Detective Conan: The Six Month War
by Nebilas
Summary: It's been 4 years since Kudo Shinichi was poisoned by the Black Organization. He has solved every case using the now renowned detective Mouri Kogoro as his puppet. After solving a straightforward murder case, the Mouri Detective Agency is attacked and Conan is forced into a case he must solve, or many people will die. Who is behind it all? Some Graphic violence. Slight CoXAi.
1. Prologue

Prologue: May 10, 2006

Ai Haibara glared at her computer in frustration. Why wouldn't it compute? She had everything. Or she should. But no matter what she tried the antidote simulator failed time and time again resulting in the words "Subject Death" popping up in the top right corner of her screen.

"Go fuck yourself" she hissed under her breath as another failed simulation popped up. "Language" a voice murmured behind her. "Kudo-kun don't make me shoot you." She snarled back at him refusing to take her eyes off of the screen before her.

"We are 10 technically." He said softly sidling up next to her and read another "subject death" over her shoulder. "How about we don't try this version out on me?" "If you don't shut up I will force feed it down your throat." He smiled slightly. She still adamantly refused to turn around. That smile of his always managed to either make her feel better or make her explode, and there was no saying which would occur in this situation.

She desperately wanted him to leave. Not because he was annoying her. She just needed her full concentration on the task at hand. After another 10 failed simulations, Ai was at breaking point. She had run 487 sims so far today and was getting nowhere. She glanced back up at the clock and discovered it was 3:30 A.M.

She blinked realizing how tired she was and discovered that Kudo was still in the room. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" She asked him turning back to her work. "Not as badly as you should be. You've done enough for today, get some rest." "I'm fine." "Oh yeah? How much sleep did you get last night?" Haibara hesitated then said "6 hours." "Bullshit." Kudo responded flatly. "We both know for a fact you've gotten at best 2 and a half hours of sleep a night for the last 3 months. You're driving yourself into the ground."

"Since when do you care?" She snarled at him. He didn't answer and she remained silent until the 488th "subject dead" of the day appeared. "Fffffff-" she hissed. She did not need Kudo Shinichi of all people telling her what to do with her spare time. The hypocrite occasionally stayed up for several nights in a row. Why she hadn't the faintest but she could tell from the bags under his eyes.

"If I shut up will you go to bed?" "Fine." She stormed past him determined not to say a word to him the rest of the night. As she reached the upstairs she yawned and walked into her room. She skipped putting on pajamas and just went into her bed and stared at the ceiling.

She usually wasn't like this. She was more of a silently, brutally, and sarcastically take out her anger on others type of person. But right now she was full of rage and she was unsure as to why. She analyzed herself and came to the conclusion that it must be because of Kudo. He didn't seem to appreciate what she did for him. He seemed to just cruise along and take whatever pill she tossed at him, no thank yous or-

Her thought process was cut off by a soft knock at her door. "Come in" she heard herself say. In walked the shrunken teenager himself. "What?" She asked bluntly. "I want you to take a break." She sat up and stared at him incredulously. "What?" She asked again. "You need a break from this. It's destroying you. We've been trying this for 3 years. Look-" he cut off her incoming retort "I know you think I don't appreciate you. But I do care about you. Quite a lot in fact. We're in this together and while I want to go back to being me… I care about your well being more. So please. Take a vacation from the basement. At least two weeks. Sleep and relax. And also eat something. I've noticed how much weight you've lost over the past month. I know you think you're invincible when it comes to sleeping and eating enough but face it, you're going to pass out one day from sheer exhaustion. I'll see you tomorrow and I'm right down the hall if you need me. Sleep well." He exited and shut the door behind him.

Haibara stared at the spot he had been in for a solid 5 minutes before slowly lying back down. After a few minutes she stood up and walked down the hall to his room. She knocked and heard permission to come in.

She slowly opened the door and walked into his room shutting the door behind her. he looked up from the book he was reading and set it down. Ai sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at her hands. She didn't know why to say. She was lost in emotion, lack of sleep, and the numbing pain being inflicted into her palm by her fingernail. She was drawing blood but she didn't care.

She opened her mouth to speak but could not find words to send out of her mouth. So she shut it again and looked at the person sitting next to her. He stared into her eyes and she shivered. She felt like he could read her like a book although she tried to keep that book closed. But here she was, at her weakest, trying to tell him how grateful she was, how he helped hold her together and she was ruining her chance.

She tried one last time to speak but could not. She looked down in self hatred at her inability to speak when it mattered most when he hugged her. Ai froze. She attempted to pull herself together, until her wall shattered and she began crying. At first small tears rolled down her cheeks but soon she was silently sobbing into his shoulder as Haibara Ai cried for the first time in 8 years.


	2. Chapter 1: The Games Begin

Chapter 1:

May 12, 2006; 10:47 A.M.

It was Early in the school day, and Shinichi was already staring out the window. Usually he could pretend to focus but today he was fed up with math. "Conan-kun" Snapped his teacher. Broken from his daydreaming, Conan halfheartedly stared back at his teacher, Sumiko Kobayashi. She was nice enough but she was teaching him things he'd learned several years earlier. "Yes Sensei?" He asked. "I asked what the answer was." She replied. This was not what she had actually asked of course, but she wanted him to pay more attention. Conan glanced up at the board. "26". Then he sighed and resumed staring out the window. Haibara smirked.

It was a particularly gloomy Friday morning. Rain threatened to fall and the gray sky did not help anyone's mood. There was an unspoken tension in the classroom that day. What it was nobody could have told you, but a sense of foreboding filled the classroom. Well except for Conan who was too tired to care. He yawned behind his hand and put his head down on the desk. Yawning again he told himself he would only rest a few moments. Within seconds he was fast asleep.

Haibara noticed this immediately. She frowned at him and wondered why he was so tired. He hadn't come to school the previous day so why was he so tired. And what was he doing if not resting? While she was thinking the classes proceeded to split up into groups. Immediately the Detective Boys flocked to her. Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko all greeted her warmly and she murmured a simple "hello" in response. As Ayumi went to wake up Conan she stopped her. She had a feeling that he needed sleep. She glanced at the board and sighed, resigning herself to an hour of poster making on the rock cycle.

As lunchtime neared, Conan was still out like a light and Ms. Kobayashi was getting worried. She had tried to wake him a few times up but to no avail. He just would not wake up. The only thing that confirmed him being alive was the rise and fall of his form on the desk. He twitched in his sleep as if he could feel himself being watched. She wondered what could have caused him to be so tired. He was certainly very smart and cruised through her classes with minimal effort on his part, but there was something more about him but she couldn't quite place her finger on it... "Edogawa-kun doesn't like being watched" reprimanded a voice behind her. Sumiko jumped a bit and turned to face the accusing eyes of Haibara. The girl set her off. There was something about her eyes.. The concealed intelligence. The dark cold understanding of the world lingered behind her eyes. She shivered involuntarily. Haibara concealed a smirk.

"I was just wondering how to wake him up." Haibara nodded slowly and glanced at the sleeping figure. "I'm sure he'll come back in his own time." She replied.

16:46 P.M.

"Bye!" Shouted the three detective boys. They promptly took off across the street. "Be careful!" Conan shouted. "Jeez…" He grumbled when they paid him no heed. "Hey Kudo-kun…" Haibara said quietly, "can we talk?" "Hm? Oh sure. Wanna grab lunch? I'm starving." "It's almost 5." Haibara pointed out.

"So we'll have lunner." He promptly walked towards a small coffee shop. Haibara sighed and followed him, both blissfully unaware of the series of events that were soon to transpire.

17:08

Conan sipped his coffee and sighed contentedly while Haibara stared at him across the table. "Better" he smiled and refocused his attention on Haibara. "So what'd you want to talk about?" "What are you doing up so late every night?" She asked bluntly. Conan choked on his coffee and spent the next several seconds getting the drink out of his lungs. Haibara did not move during this nor did she take her eyes off of him. "I…" He seemed to fish for an answer but could not find one. He took another drink and sighed. He could see no way out of the situation and was desperately trying to piece together what he should tell her.

Haibara appraised the person across from her. At least he wasn't lying. Yet. He sighed in resignation. "Football." He said simply. "What?" She asked in confusion. "I've been playing football every night." She glared at him. "It's true I swear!" She opened her mouth to respond when a scream ripped through the coffee shop. At a table of four, a woman was lying dead on the floor. Conan was there in an instant. Once he confirmed her death he began to observe.

Female, late 20's, fairly wealthy based on the designer handbag that was a few months old and her cute but not overly expensive earrings. 'Now for cause of death' he thought to himself. Pinkish skin, smell of almonds in the air, 'cyanide' he thought. He glanced around and noticed one of the the friends dumping a capsule into a trash can. He almost laughed out loud. This would be the quickest case ever solved.

Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the police were leading away a woman in handcuffs, thanks to some nudges by Conan. He smiled and yawned putting his hands behind his head, stretching. Haibara watched him as he rejoined her at the booth. "That was quick." She said begrudgingly impressed. Conan nodded slightly and ordered another coffee, humming to himself. "No wonder Mouri kogoro is so famous now." "You know I've been wondering about that. Have I been attracting too much attention?" He asked her concerned. "No you should be fine. Why?" "No reason." He sipped his coffee.

Across the street, a man pulled out a phone and made a phone call. The call lasted for 30 seconds and it was all the man needed to hear. He smiled to himself and walked away whistling. He needed to pay a visit to the Mouri Detective Agency.


	3. Chapter 2: A World On Fire

Chapter 2: A World On Fire

17:57

Conan glared at the rain before him and Haibara. They had just walked out when a lightning bolt had struck and it started dumping rain. He popped out his umbrella and he and Haibara began to walk through the downpour. No words were exchanged and no sideways glances were exchanged either. They just walked down the sidewalk towards the professor's house. The occasional car would drive past one dousing Conan in water. He sighed and handed Haibara the umbrella, and he began walking in the middle of the street.

Haibara chanced the occasional sideways glance at this point. He was very deep in thought. She always found him attractive when he was thinking hard, or solving a case. The concentration he could gain was amazing. Suddenly he turned his head and held her gaze for a few moments. She gasped as his eyes met hers and tried to burrow their way into her soul. She quickly looked away and realized they were almost at the professor's. "Kudo-kun!" She called, "you should come in, it's still pouring after all." Conan just nodded and followed her into the house.

Due to the professor's recent success, his house was decorated with new furniture, new silverware and flatware, as well as a large flat screen TV that now adorned the far wall. Despite the TV and the PS3 sitting underneath it, Conan was bored in 30 seconds flat. He sighed to himself, and laid back on the sofa. Glancing around the room he spied a chessboard under the coffee table. "Chess?" he asked Haibara, who had just turned on the TV. She shot him a look that brooked no argument and Conan resigned himself to boredom. After scrolling through for a few minutes, Haibara switched to the news, where they were covering the Suzuki Corporations "Big Find" of the priceless 'Fiery Topaz'. Conan was expecting a heist notice from Kaito Kid, the monocled 'Thief Under the Moonlight', any moment now. Suddenly the news footage cut to "Breaking News" and the main anchor began reading.

'This just in a massive explosion ripped through a suburban district in Tokyo. We have received word that there are 28 dead, with approximately 3 dozen casualties, and three of them are in critical condition. Among the buildings attacked were the Tokyo Fine Bakery, 25 flats, 3 houses, and the 'Mouri Detective Agency'. Conan and Haibara stared in shock at the television. For Conan, the world became a mesh of color and sound, none of which he could comprehend. He leapt up from the couch and sprinted out the door, ignoring Haibara's shouts behind him. He sprinted the 2 miles between the professor's house and the Agency. By the time he reached the Agency, the rain had started to let up and he began to see signs of destruction. A whole block was leveled in front of him. He slowed his place to a jog and looked around, searching for Ran… Where was she? He walked past the decimated bakery noticing the bodies the police had not yet reached, burned beyond recognition, with limbs twisted everywhere and a few arms were ownerless, now out in the street. As he walked he passed the fire department attempting to rescue a woman who had been blown out into the street and was now covered in debris. Her leg was very clearly broken under a particularly large rock. At the same time a large piece of debris was balancing dangerously off of the roof of the building above her. Just as quickly as Conan noticed any of this the rock fell, forcing the firefighters to dive out of the way. Conan could only watch in horror as it smashed into her torso and killed her. The nearest firefighters received a small spattering of blood on their masks and some had to vomit out of their masks! "SHIT!" screamed one of the firefighters. Conan forced himself to continue moving.

He reached what used to be the Mouri Detective Agency, which had been blown outwards by the explosion. The sign was impaled through a window on the other side of the street. Glass and plaster were everywhere, and Conan scanned desperately for anyone he recognized. He spotted the man who lived across from them dead, impaled by a metal pole, blood pooled below him. He had not died quickly. He had suffered, and by the time anyone arrived, he was probably missed, because he was behind a pile of rubble. Checking farther ahead of him, he discovered Inspector Takagi climbing over debris to reach Conan's initial destination, the Detective Agency.

Wataru Takagi had served on the force for nearly 9 years now. He had witnessed many gruesome murders, suicides and the occasional bombing, but this one topped all of them. The death toll was 28, and that was just so far. He was certain they would find more, but at least they hadn't found the body of Conan yet. "Please don't let him have been here" he whispered out loud. "Detective Takagi!" shouted a voice. He looked up to discover a perfectly healthy Conan running toward him at top speed. "Conan-kun! Are you ok?" He ran over to check on the boy, who brushed him off. "Takagi-san, where are Ran-Neechan and Mouri-kun?" Takagi could sense the urgency and desperation, and was caught on what to tell him. Conan wasn't a normal child. He was perfectly aware of this no matter what Conan tried to do or say to convince him otherwise. Plus what he had said in the Tokyo Tower.. Maybe he really was someone else. Nevertheless he decided to tell him the truth. He crouched down next to Conan. "They're both alive. Mouri-san sustained minor injuries from glass and suffered a sprained wrist." "And Ran-neechan?" Takagi sighed and braced himself for whatever might come next. "She's at the hospital, in the ICU. She suffered massive burns, both of her legs are broken and she said she couldn't see when she was being gurneyed away. She apparently also had something lodged near her heart. They weren't sure what it was."

Conan felt his world crumble around him as the detective told him everything. He lost the ability to speak for a few moments. "What are her odds?" he whispered hoarsely. Takagi sighed and looked down. "10%. 2% of her coming out of this with no long lasting permanent damage." Conan simply nodded and took a deep breath. "Detective..? Can you drive me to the hospital?" Takagi nodded and informed Megure of where he was going. He let Conan in the left door, and stepped in himself. No words were exchanged during the 15 minute drive to the hospital.

Hey it's Nebilas. So this is my first ever fanfic. I've had these ideas in my head for a while now, and I just got to writing them. So the first few will probably come pretty fast but after that I'd guess about once or twice a week. Please comment and leave any constructive criticism you might think of. I aim to please. Be sure to follow! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 3 The Destruction of a Soul

Hello it's me. Sorry for the longer wait, this one took me a while to write. I had so many ideas of where to go with this. Plus I didn't know what to name the Chapter Title. I 'm rubbish at that. Hope you enjoy

Chapter 3: The Destruction of a Soul

20:28

Kudo Shinichi stared at the light above the double doors leading to the operating room, dreading the moment it would turn off. His phone was buzzing again. He did not acknowledge its presence. Across from him with his head folded in his hands was Kogoro, the renowned detective. A scan from Shinichi told him all he needed to know. He would clearly have given up everything in that moment to save his daughter. Through the doors burst in Eri Kisaki, Ran's mother. The detective stood up and walked to her and began to speak in hushed tones. Eri's face became clouded with grief and she wept as Kogoro held her.

Shinichi left the room to give them privacy, and went down to the lobby. He grabbed a snack from the vending machine and slowly began to walk back down the long hallway he had just exited. As he walked he heard the story of the 'gas leak' that had caused the explosion. Shinichi couldn't think straight. He had solved cases with Ran in danger before, but she had never been so close to death. As a result his thoughts were unorganized, jumbled. The one thing he could discern from his clouded mind was that this was no accident. Screw what the police were saying on the television. No gas leak could do this amount of devastation.

As he walked into the waiting room once more he was immediately swarmed by the detective boys, all clamoring for explanations Conan did not have. "Who caused it?" "Was it an actual bomb?" "Will she make it?" And more and more questions followed, nobody actually getting their questions answered. Fortunately for Conan, who was at breaking point, Sonoko Suzuki ran through the door, tear lines streaking her mascara, immediately followed by the Professor and Haibara. The professor went to talk with Eri and Mouri, while Haibara walked up towards the rest of the children. Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko, all standing in a small circle, and Kudo-kun just staring at his hands, unmoving.

She took a tentative step forward only to be beaten to him by Ayumi, who leaned forward and hugged him. For once, Genta and Mitsuhiko did not object. This they understood at least. She looked at the light over the doors with apprehension. Regardless of the result, everything would change. She went through possible scenarios. If Ran survived, he would be there for her, trying to repair her broken body, mind and spirit. But if she died, Ai feared Kudo would break. And if he broke down, she knew she would fall back into the depression she had spent the last 2 years dragging herself out of, kicking and screaming, mostly thanks to Kudo. While he was clueless about some things, he was there when it mattered, and he really had turned her life around.

She glanced back to where he had been to find him missing. She looked around to find him sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. His glasses were removed, something that was a rare occurrence. She warily moved over and sat next to him on his right, afraid to look at him, afraid of what she might see. After a few moments he leaned his head against her shoulder, and she leaned her head on his. No words were exchanged because none were needed. They soon fell asleep, both exhausted from the day's events.

May 13, 2006: 01:19

The professor sighed as he continued to walk up and down the hall. The kids had been driven home hours ago, and Conan and Ai were still in the corner, sleeping soundly. He smiled softly. He knew what Shinichi meant to Ai-kun, and he had to wonder what she meant to him. He sighed wondering if he would ever get into that boy's head. He looked to the other side of the room where he saw Mouri and Eri holding hands, hoping and praying. Sonoko was sitting in a corner chair of her own, looking forward blankly. Suddenly the doors opened and a doctor walked in from the operating room. He walked over to Mouri who rose. The doctor motioned for him to sit.

"So here's what we know." He stated bluntly. "She has shrapnel lodged… Well everywhere. Now normally this would not be so much of a problem, in fact we've removed ⅔ of it. In fact the problem lies in how much there was, and what metal the shrapnel was made out of. I'm sure you've noticed the two police officers who've come in and out?" The adults nodded. The professor looked for Shinichi and saw his eyes open. Shinichi nodded his head slowly to tell the professor he could hear. Turning back to the conversation, the doctor continued.

"She is filled with steel. Now, from what I heard, there was very little steel support In your building. This leads me to believe she was very close To the bomb when it went off. Also.." "Also?" Asked Eri. "She had rope burns around her wrists and ankles. We feel she was tied up and placed next to the bomb." "I thought this was a gas leak." interrupted Sonoko. The doctor shook his head. "There's no way. It doesn't add up. But a large pipe bomb? That makes sense. I used to be on a bomb defusing team." He added to the curious looks on everyone's face. "Now what are her odds?" Asked the professor. "I don't know. It will take a few more hours before the shrapnel is all out, and then several more to determine if she'll make it." He turned back around, and wearily walked back into the operating room.

Shinichi leaned back against the wall, and slowly lowered Haibara so her head was on his lap. He absently stroked her hair as he began to nod off again. He glanced down at Haibara's sleeping face, and watched as her eyes fluttered in her sleep. He smiled slightly, the first time he'd smiled since during their coffee. It was a small smile, but it was a genuine one, "one that Ai would have loved." The Professor thought smiling slightly himself. He watched shinichi fall asleep again, Haibara on his lap, and the professor wondered if this was the last time that either of them would be happy for a long time to come.

04:58

Haibara woke up to silence. While she was used to silence, this silence was eerie, thick with foreboding. She glanced around the room without lifting up her head and noticed the professor was gone. She saw Eri sleeping against Kogoro, her glasses slightly askew, tear stains on her cheek. She glanced over the other way and saw Sonoko fighting sleep. The poor girl looked exhausted. Ai yawned and looked up and realized she was on Kudo's lap. She blushed fiercely, and then also noticed his hand was in her hair. She smiled and reluctantly removed herself from him, careful to not wake him up.

She stood, and promptly had to sit down again thanks to a head rush. She stared at the ground feeling dizzy before walking to find the professor. She went out to the main desk and asked if they had seen him. They pointed her up to the roof where Agasa had told them to tell her that's where he was. After a quick thank you, she walked to the elevator and rode up to the top floor, before walking up a flight of stairs and reaching the roof. She found the professor sitting on a chair, staring out across the Tokyo skyline.

"Did you have a good nap?" He asked. She blushed slightly, grateful for the darkness and she murmured in response. They stayed silent for a few moments then he spoke up again. "Ai-kun… Do you think this will change him?" Haibara sighed. She looked up at the stars and pondered. "I think…" She finally began, "The question isn't will he change. The question is how much. Will he be consumed or will he take this and turn it into something positive, something people can rally behind?" She looked up again. "We should head back" she murmured. Without another word, she walked back to the stairs and descended back into the hospital. As she walked, the first sun of dawn began to appear, tinting the skyline red.

05:15

Shinichi woke up to hushed conversation. He blinked slowly and tried to wake himself up. He looked above the door and saw the light was off. He leapt to his feet and had to sit down again, much like Haibara had. He rose and walked over to the tense parents. They stared at the door in fear, dreading what would happen if they took their eyes off. The doctors began to walk out, one walking over to the two adults. He looked exhausted. He wobbled, trying to remain standing. He looked at each adult a few times, and began to talk.

"She went into cardiac arrest 15 minutes ago. However, we were able to keep her heart beating, and we removed the rest of the shrapnel. But… I'm afraid she's gone comatose. Her odds of ever waking up aren't good. Even if she did, she would never walk again. Her legs are too badly mangled. And there are also her lungs. They've essentially been shredded, it's a wonder she made it to the table alive. And… There's one last thing. And.. There's no easy way to say this. Your daughter was brutally raped. We found traces of semen and well… I've never seen one this vicious. The rapist was extremely sadistic based on bruises around the body. You have 72 hours to decide whether if you want to keep her hooked up to a machine, or let her go. Before you decide, let me tell you something. If she does wake up… Your daughter will never be the same. She would be a shell of her former self. Please take that Into account when you decide. I've lived through this decision. It's not an easy one. I still wonder if I made the right choice." And with that the doctor nodded sadly and staggered away, having finished a 21 hour surgery.

Shinichi stared at the floor blankly, processing what he had heard. He looked up at the two parents who were in tears holding each other. He saw Sonoko in the corner beside herself in tears, caught in chest wracking sobs. He watched as she pulled out her phone, still in years and called her boyfriend makoto, and asked him to meet her at the hospital. She walked over to Eri and Kogoro, who she embraced, then she left still in tears. Shinichi was the only one in the room who had not cried. He stood alone, completely forgotten to the world, left to feel his emotions on his own. He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't find the will to be angry. He was numb, and all he felt was despair. His childhood friend was gone. Even if she was alive, the Ran he had cared for and strived to keep his identity from, the Ran who had loved both of his identities, and he who now felt guilty, because he knew he no longer felt the same. He had been the "adorable little brother" for too long. She was just a friend now. A friend he loved yes but just a friend. But now his best friend was gone, taken unjustly from the world. He stared at the ceiling, wondering what he had done to deserve this life. He had been robbed of his teenage life, shot, poisoned, almost burned alive, shot again, chucked out of a blimp, and now his best friend was dead. And those were just the significant things. He'd been attacked more times than he could count.

But he could not find rage or even bitterness, he simply felt empty. The rest of the day moved by in a blur. He answered questions posed to him, he contacted his Osakan friend Hattori Hejii to tell him what had happened, and he occasionally caught glimpses of the police talking to the doctors, and they would exit rooms with a case full of forensic evidence. He occasionally saw Haibara, but he didn't want her to see him like this, numb and despairing. He felt it would bring her down and that wasn't fair to her. In reality, he was doing the opposite. Haibara was on the edge of tears after he adamantly refused to acknowledge her presence for the 5th time that day. It was getting late and she wanted to go home to the professor's house. She walked up to him and he told her they had to wait for Kudo-kun, because he was staying with them for a few nights. When he came up he followed them to the car and stepped into the backseat with Haibara. He leaned over and whispered to her "Sorry I was so distant today. I had a lot on my mind and I needed some space. I'm better now though." Haibara nodded, but she knew full well he was not okay but she decided not to call him out and let him be for the car ride home. But she resolved to talk to him after they had both slept. She was exhausted, and had been up since 5, which meant she had been up for 18 hours now as it was 23:00 on the nose. She sighed and leaned on Kudo, and they both fell asleep, each taking comfort in the others presence.


	5. Chapter 4: Guilt and Pondering

Chapter 4:

May 14, 2006:

03:26

Ai woke up with a start. She was in her bed, something she did not remember getting into. She glanced at her analog clock. It was way too early for her liking. She wanted sleep and could not get it. She flopped back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling before hearing somebody walking down the hallway. They walked past her room and into the bathroom. She sighed and listened to the sounds of the night. The sounds of the crickets were very relaxing. After a few moments, she heard a toilet flush and listened to the footsteps walk by her door again. She listened to the soft footsteps, and decided it must be Kudo. She looked around her room, wondering if she could cheer him up somehow. She glanced out the window and realized it was very cloudy. She shifted her legs under the covers to find the warm spot they used to inhabit.

She wanted to talk to Kudo, but she wasn't sure that was a good idea at the moment. He was probably exhausted and he needed to sleep. She sighed and debated in her head for a few minutes, then decided to get up. She rose, and quietly walked down the hallway and peered into Kudo's room. With a glance, she couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. She tiptoed over, trying to get a closer look. As she came up to the bed, she realized he was asleep and sighed, vaguely disappointed. Then he began murmuring in his sleep. She was about to leave when she heard "What are the terms?" She paused and glanced back, wondering what he was dreaming about, before exiting the room and heading back down the hallway. She yawned and entered her room, and eventually nodded off.

08:42

Shinichi woke up to the sun glaring in his eyes. He sighed and squint glared out the window, willing the sun to disappear behind a cloud. When it did no such thing, he got up and dressed. He discovered he was in a bed. He didn't remember going to bed though that wasn't so unusual these days. He replayed the events of the previous day in his mind, praying that it had all been a dream. He knew it wasn't though and walked down to the kitchen and sat down at the table in front of the tv. He knew he wouldn't turn it on but he just sat there, staring blankly at it. He began tapping around his pockets, searching for his phone, hoping to call Detective Kogoro. He sighed when he could not find it and lay down on the couch. He realized he should probably just talk to the detective in person instead of over the phone.

He stared at the ceiling in torment, knowing his childhood friend was lying unresponsive in a hospital bed. Shinichi hated only a few things, and being completely powerless was one of them. He had absolutely no control of the situation and it was making him angry. He wanted to catch whoever had done this. He wanted to make them pay for what they'd done. But for once he didn't just want to put them behind bars. This time he imagined destroying them from the inside out, torturing them slowly until they begged for mercy and he would walk away from them smiling, knowing his revenge was complete, as they bled out behind him.

He quickly sat up and shook his head horrified with himself. "How could I think something like that?" He whispered. "That would destroy everything I believe in." He sighed and covered his right eye with his right hand. "Different perspectives often reveal the truth." He murmured to himself. However, instead of getting up like he normally would, he flopped down onto the couch again, and resumed staring at the ceiling. Directly above him, Haibara began to stir.

8:47

Haibara slowly came out of her post-dream haze. She cursed into her pillow and stubbornly kept her eyes closed. It had been such a wonderful dream. Ai sighed and rolled over after a few moments. She stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, wishing she could fall back asleep and ignore everything else about her life. She sighed again and looked to her left. There was a spider on the wall. She looked around for something to smash it but couldn't find the will to get up and get the shoe on the other side of the room. She sighed and stared at the spider some more. "I envy you", she whispered, confiding in the spider, "you have no senseless violence in your world. You kill when you have to in order to survive. Humans waste life and resources to kill each other. It's pitiful really." She sighed and rolled into her back again, staring at the ceiling. "I mean look at me, I'm talking to a spider because I'm so fucking depressed. Yay humans." She finished with a snarl.

She sat up suddenly and was greeted with a head rush. She fell back onto the bed again holding her head. She sighed one final time before actually getting up. As she walked out of her room she glanced at the spider one final time before slowly closing the door behind her and heading downstairs.

As Haibara walked down stairs she listened for any signs of life throughout the house. Nobody seemed to be awake so she was a little quieter than normal. She reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed through the main room and entered the kitchen. She rummaged through the fridge and cupboards and found what she needed for breakfast. She hummed to herself as she worked, a sad melody, full of mourning and sorrow, yet the song seemed to carry itself through the air and into the morning itself.

As she hummed she began to break the eggs she had found in the fridge and began to stir them. She knew Kudo-Kun liked scrambled eggs. She just hoped he would eat them. As if on cue a voice from the couch echoed her thoughts. "I probably won't be able to eat that you know." Used to his antics by now, Ai hardly jumped, and continued making the eggs, effectively ignoring his statement. She finished up the eggs a few minutes later with no more words exchanged. Adding some salt to them she split it in half and doled it onto two plates.

As she walked over she wondered which Shinichi she would get. The pretending to be ok Shinichi or the flat out depressed Shinichi. The second one was more terrifying than the first because if he was showing his depression that meant he was broken, and that meant hell was going to break loose in the worst way possible. She braced herself as she rounded the corner for what she might see but discovered a surprisingly blank faced Kudo. She paused an unspoken question on her lips.

"Don't bother asking." He stated with a clenched jaw. His tone brooked no argument and Ai shrugged to herself. She hoped he would come to her himself in due time, trusting her enough to help him. She tapped the plate with a fork and glared at him. "Eat Kudo-kun. You know you have to." He sighed and poked at it for a few moments, wondering what he should say. Haibara waited and chewed on her breakfast. She glanced down at her plate as she swallowed her food and decided that orange juice would go well with the eggs. She walked to the fridge to grab the bottle, also snagging a glass on the way there. She poured herself a glass and walked back to the couch where Kudo was still poking at his food.

"Do me a favor and eat it before I shove it down your throat." He jolted a bit and picked up a scoop before setting the fork back down. "Haibara.." Ai paused mid bite at this. He almost never spoke this way and when he did it was never good. "Am I a good person?" He questioned softly. Now Ai was frozen. This was the last thing she expected. Why would he ask this, surely he didn't blame himself for Ran's death did he? "No I don't blame myself" he said, again seemingly reading her thoughts. "I just… Don't feel as bad as I thought I would. I mean I feel awful but I don't feel.." "Heartbroken" Ai whispered. Shinichi jolted and looked at her in surprise. "You feel bad because she's dying and you don't feel the same as she does. And now she'll never know." He nodded slowly, sadly staring at his eggs. Then she realized something else. "Is that all?" "And that takes us straight into problem number two." he sighed. "I don't really feel anything." I mean I was mad at first but now… Now I've just sort of accepted it. And it's been less than 24 hours I mean what is wrong with me? Have I just gotten so used to death that I can accept the death of a childhood friend within hours of it happening? I mean I haven't even cried about it. Isn't that the normal reaction to something like this?" As he spoke his voice got more frenzied and panicked, and this scared Ai. She wanted to calm him down before he lost his nerve because she knew that if he lost it she would lose her nerve and probably collapse much as she had when she had heard of her sister's death.

So she picked up her fork and threw a chunk of egg at him, hitting him in the forehead. He froze mid sentence with his mouth open, prepared to ridicule himself some more. He stared at her incredulously before shutting his mouth and sitting back down. He had not realized he had gotten up. He stared at her for a few moments before picking up his fork and eating his eggs. Ai smiled softly and finished eating the last bite she had remaining on her plate. As she walked away, something soggy smelling suspiciously of Orange Juice hit her in the back. She whipped around to find Kudo still with his fork in throwing position and a smirk on his face. She glanced down at the floor and spotted the projectile of choice. A piece of egg dipped in Orange Juice. She glared at it, shrugged, and walked back into the kitchen.

"In all seriousness though what do you think Haibara?" He called from the living room. Ai sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm not entirely sure." She murmured, wondering just how much the cases he solved had affected him over the years.


	6. Chapter 5: Which Hell is Less Awful?

**_Nebilas hereBefore I begin, I would like to apologize for the hella long wait. I quite honestly spaced this story and was unsure of where to progress and I let it sit for a few months. So, special thanks to Pikanet 128 who shot a review my way and got me back on track. Hope you enjoy._**

Chapter 5: Which Hell Is Less Awful?

May 16, 2006

12:46

Haibara and Conan entered the hospital. They checked in at the front desk, and got their visitors badges before heading upstairs to the coma ward. No words were exchanged between the two as they walked somberly up the stairs. Haibara looked up at the signs as they passed them.

 _ **NO ROOF ACCESS**_

 **Basement… Supplies and Storage**

 **Level 1… Parking, Lobby and ICU**

 **Level 2… Surgery, Medicine, Seating Areas**

 **Level 3…. Coma Wards, Doctors lounges**

 **Level 4….. Neurology Department**

Haibara sighed as they passed Level 2, wishing they didn't have to take the stairs. Unfortunately the elevator was broken and as a result, they were forced to walk up the stairs. She snuck a glance over at Conan as they walked up. She wondered what was going through his mind right now. He didn't seem rattled he just seemed determined. It was the last day that the hospital would keep her hooked up for free, and Kogoro and Eri had to make their decision, and nobody knew the decision the newly re-joined couple would make. Their reunion had been unexpected to say the least for most of the group, but Kudo-kun had simply nodded as though he had expected it from the beginning. Ai laughed internally because she knew he probably had. He was so eerily good at reading people. She dared not laugh out loud though for fear of insulting anybody else nearby. She knew Kudo wouldn't take it personally but the others might. They finally reached the Coma wards and entered the room where Ran was.

Once again Ai was struck by the damage that the young woman had sustained. Rans face was so badly damaged that they had simply wrapped it up, unknowing whether or not she would wake up, leaving her eyes revealed to the world, and even there you could see the damage sustained around her eyes. The doctor said she had lost her right leg and left arm, and that she would probably never be able to see again. She remembered the grimness of the doctor's voice as she explained to the adults just how serious her injuries were. Then the doctor had finished with one of the most heartbreaking things Ai had ever heard. She had recommended they pull the plug. This was dumbfounding to Haibara and Shinichi and they had followed the doctor and asked for a better explanation. She paused wondering if she should tell the two (seemingly innocent) children. She had caved in upon seeing their earnest faces and sighed.

 _Previous Day_

Dr. Hannah Clark was tired. She was also exceedingly depressed from the day's events. She had just suggested to a family that they kill their daughter. Their incredulous faces had made her feel horrible about it but she didn't know what else to say. Fresh out of medical school she had always been told to leave it up to the family. "No exceptions it's not your decision." She had seen plenty of dead people in her time at the University of CU Boulder in America, she had even seen her fair share of bombing victims. But nothing could prepare anyone from this situation. She had taken one look at the body of that poor girl and known that there was no recovery from this. As she walked away from the devastation wrought on that poor family, she heard a voice call after her.

The brunette doctor slowly turned around ready to fend off any of the adults questions. She had been on call last night and now it was 10:00. "2 more hours" she thought to herself and braced herself for a barrage of insults or questions she most likely held no answers to. Instead she was faced with two ten year olds who looked at her innocently. "Oh joy" she thought to herself. "Even better." "You are aware that you said that out loud right?" asked the girl. Hannah froze in place and tensed up. She immediately felt terrible. She opened her mouth to apologize but the boy cut her off. "It's ok Dr. You were on call last night right? It's understandable to be tired." Hannah shut her mouth and marveled the odd pair of children before her. The girl was very clearly not Japanese, that she surmised, but she spoke it flawlessly, meaning she had lived here at least most of her life, and the boy seemed to be half Japanese. Based on the couple in the other room this seemed to make sense to her. The mother was not japanese and the father was. Simple.

As this flashed through her mind, Conan was going through the same process as she was. The doctor had long brown hair tied back into a ponytail, and stood around 5'7". She was clearly exhausted and had bags under her eyes. Conan also noticed she walked with a slight limp and wondered about it. He dismissed it however and moved on to his question. "Ms. Why did you recommend they pull the plug on Ran-Neechan?" He noticed the doctor hesitate so he put on his best serene face and nudged Haibara to do the same. She sighed and crouched down to their level. She looked them both in the eyes and said, "Look kids, I've seen people go insane from those kinds of injuries. I know you think she's strong, and believe me I know she is." At the looks on their faces she added, "I'm a huge fan of Karate. I was at her tournament last year." The children nodded in assent. Hannah's face fell again, and brought the subject back around.

"Look, if I'm being completely honest I think she could make it if she woke up. But I don't know if they would." She looked between them down the hall. "I know it's not my place. But quite frankly, even if she survives the damages done to her in the end, I doubt she will survive the looks on your parents faces." She sighed and stood up. "Let me know what they decide if you see me. Also.. if you need me, here's my card." She pulled out a small white card with her e-mail, phone number and name. Then she hesitated and wrote her personal number on the back. "Thank you doctor." Conan whispered. Haibara nodded at her as they began to walk back to their group. Hannah watched them go, a sad expression on her face, remembering when she had faced a similar ordeal.

 _Present_

12:52

Conan stared at the bandaged face of his friend, wishing he could talk to her. He was almost certain that Kogoro and Eri would decide to keep her alive. He sighed and stared at the ceiling, knowing that if Ran ever woke up she would never be the same. To his surprise, he found himself wondering if he wanted her to wake up. Would she be able to handle the stares she would get from everyone? Would she be able to survive without doing any of the things she had loved doing for so long. He sighed. "Probably not." he murmured. "Conan can we talk to you?" Conan turned to find Detective Kogoro beckoning to him. Conan sighed and walked out to him, ready for the parents to tell him they would keep their beloved daughter hooked up to the machine.

As he walked out he took in the parents for the first time. Or at least it was the first time he really paid attention. Both of their eyes were bloodshot. Conan also realized there was a bruise forming underneath Kogoro's eye. He wondered what it was from, but he needed to pay attention to the parents who were beginning to speak. "Conan…" began Kogoro, "this has been an extremely hard decision for both of us and we want your opinion." Conan jolted in surprise. This was not what he had expected at all! He stared at them in shock. "We both think we know what the right decision is but… We want to know what you think." Conan was frozen in time. He knew what he believed but should he force that on him if they disagreed. He looked at both parents and saw the tears in their eyes. He began to speak.

"Uncle Kogoro.. Eri-san.. I will be honest with you. I want Ran-neechan to live. I want to believe that she will survive this ordeal and that she will be herself again soon. However," he interrupted before they could speak again, "I know… Deep down that that will never happen. Even if she recovers the best she can physically she will never be the same Ran-neechan I knew and loved. Nobody will be able to look at her the same way. I don't think we could ask her to do that. So… I think we should pull the plug." As he finished he took off down the hallway, unable to contain his emotions any longer. Kogoro and Eri watched on, their eyes wet with tears. "I told you so." Eri choked out. Kogoro nodded and gulped. "He really is remarkable isn't he. He's very mature for his age." Eri nodded and both of them held each other, seeking impossible refuge in the impossible hell they found themselves in.


	7. Chapter 6: The End of the Beginning

Chapter 6: The End of the Beginning

12:54

Haibara watched from the room as Shinichi fled. She didn't know what had transpired between the couple and Kudo, but she knew it was nothing good. Habra cursed softly and detached herself from the detective boys who were all in a massive group hug. She wouldn't be missed. She walked past the crying couple without a glance and paused at the entrance to the hallway. She wondered where Kudo would go from here. Thinking about it she smirked and turned around the opposite way and went back down to the ground floor.

12:58

Shinichi was still running. He didn't know where he was running or why he was still running he just knew that he had to get away from that terrible room with the machine that was keeping his friend alive. He needed to be as far away from it as possible. He reached some stairs and halted. He glanced up and started walking up them, hoping to reach the roof. He took deep breaths as he climbed, trying to regain his breath. As he walked he let his mind wander, and it took him back to the conversation he'd had with the doctor. He pulled out the card she had given him and stared at it. 'Why did she give me this?' he wondered. There was no reason for her to have given it to him other than to hear about Ran. But there was no reason for that, she had no reason to care. He blinked a defiant tear from his eye and put it back in his pocket. Maybe he would pay her a visit later on. Now he was on level 5 with just one flight of stairs to go. He sighed, ready to be alone and clear his mind. He reached the top stair and hopped up onto the landing. He paused and opened the door to the blinding sunlight.

As he stepped out, he discovered he was not alone at all as he had hoped for. "Hello Kudo" stated Haibara without turning around. Conan sighed and walked out towards her, wishing she was a figment of his imagination. "Ok.. How did you know I'd be up here? And for that matter how did you get her before me?" "Kudo you randomly sprinted around the hospital for almost ten minutes. Of course I beat you here. You ran effing circles and I walked in a straight line. Slow and-" "So help me god if you say 'slow and steady wins the race' I will chuck you off of this roof." he snarled.

"I get it you beat me here. How did you know?"

"You have a habit of fleeing to the roof whenever things don't go your way. It's like every roof in the world is a freaking mind palace for you"

"No Sherlock references either." he interrupted.

"But you love that show!" She laughed. Conan stared at her for a moment and then stared out over the city of Tokyo.

"I feel like I'm at this hospital way too often" he sighed. The nurses all know my name now."

Ai giggled a little. Then she frowned at herself. She hated it when that happened. She also hated the smirk that was appearing on her friends face. "Shhhh." She put her index finger on his lips before he could make any remarks. "It's rude to giggle at others misfortune." he murmured as he glanced at her. "Har har." she said. In spite of herself she smiled again. "Ai are you feeling ok?" Conan asked. "Yeah why?" "You keep smiling and it's putting me off."

"Shut up! Sometimes I smile." she growled swinging a fist at him.

Conan ducked and jibed "Yeah but quite frankly that only happens when you smirk because you're either getting revenge on somebody as a joke, or you've made progress in something. Now you've started smiling more and more." He ducked another punch from Ai and he snickered.

"Shut up! I can smile if I want to." "I don't think I've ever seen you actually smile with more than a smirk" he fired back. "Kudo I will kill you." she snarled.

"Oh right that reminds me." he said becoming serious. "Um, me threatening to kill you makes you remember something?" Conan smirked. "No no. Kudo." He paused and looked out over the balcony again.

13:04

Eri held her daughter's hand for the last time. She knew what had to happen and what they had to do. Eri cried silently wishing she could see Ran's face. But she was terrified to look up. Determined to focus on the hand she held, to cling on to the last hope that Ran was ok. Hoping. Praying for a twitch. Some sign of life. The flicker of an eyebrow. The movement of her fingers. Even a sigh not generated by the machine. Kogoro placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear "It's time." Eri's sobbing intensified and she buried her head in the Sleeping Detective's shoulder.

"Why her?" She whispered. "Anyone else. But why did this have to happen to her?" "Eri we both know we would give anything to take her place." the detective whispered. "But we also both know that what's done is done. I hate this as much as you do. But it's for the best. You know that as well as I do." Eri coughed and wiped the tears from her eyes, only for them to be replaced by more. She had not slept since the incident and she was running on extreme reserves. She coughed again, and put her face into her husband's shoulder. He held her close, both knowing their lives would never be the same again.

 _ **A/N: Hey guys it's me. Surprise! It has been months lol. Sorry about that. I had a lot of stuff I had to do. The fam was moving and I had to help. Currently holed up with my grandparents before I head off on my gap year. I'll try to post another few chapters before I leave. Also I may or may not choose to start another story. Depends on everything. If so what should I write about? Let me know what you think if you so desire. Until next time. ~Nebilas**_


	8. Chapter 7: Another Fcking Poet

Chapter 7: Another F*cking Poet

1:06

Conan held his cheek where Haibara had slapped him. He sighed and looked back out over the balcony. He hadn't really expected anything different. He fought back the stubborn tear that was developing in his eye. He sighed and glanced back to where she had disappeared into the building. He turned around and wiped his eye before heading back inside.

He walked down the stairs slowly, cautiously, looking out for any of his friends. He had called both of his parents and left messages but neither had responded. He glanced up at the boring white ceiling and sighed for the 5th time that minute. 'I need to stop sighing so much' he thought to himself. He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned left towards Ran's coma room. He stopped about 50 feet away as he came to a realization. As not per his character, he had not inspected anything about the crime itself. Why the agency? Why Ran? Who was able to defeat her? She was too badly damaged from the bomb and so was the room to determine anything that had happened prior to it. This was actually a perfect crime unless they were able to find the remnants of the bomb, which seemed highly unlikely. Pipe bombs had a nasty habit of virtually disappearing. How Ran had managed to not be vaporized confused him. Direct blast, yes, but not directly next to the bomb.

'But why?' he thought some more. 'If he wanted her dead he could have just stabbed or put her right on the bomb.. Unless.' His eyes went huge. 'This was a message.' In an instant, Conan came to several horrible realizations. 1. The killer had not wanted Ran dead. 2. This meant that he had plans surrounding her being alive. 3. This also meant that the bomber knew that he (Conan) would not be there. He wanted him to feel helpless. 4. If he knew about his identity, that meant he would have researched more and more. Discovered his friends. Maybe his parents. 5. If he was truly trying to make him suffer.. Taking out everyone he cared about was the best way to do it. 6. And now most of those people were in the same room.

Conan began to run towards Rans room. He hit the door and smashed it open. His eyes widened in horror. Ran, Eri, Kogoro, Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, Sonoko, Agasa, and the doctor all steeled against the inevitability of Ran's death. But Conan wasn't focusing on that. His eyes were drawn to a package in the far corner of the room. "KOGORO!" he screeched. "Where did that box come from?" The great detective looked at it puzzled. "Oh I don't know it was just there. Conan paled. "We need to get out." He murmured. "What?" "OUT! GET OUT!" he screamed. Sonoko glared at him and shouted right back "Don't you dare say that right when we're about to…" She burst into tears again and fell back down to her knees. "THAT PACKAGE IS A BOMB!" he shouted.

There are a few things that will cause people to immediately obey your every command, and "That package is a bomb" is certainly one of them. Everyone froze and stared at the said package, which sat innocently in the corner. Agasa whispered "are you sure…?" "OUT" screeched Conan one last time. Everyone immediately bolted. Eri and Mouri paused on the way out. "What about.." Conan pointed one finger to the door. They meekly left. Conan pulled out his phone and dialed Inspector Megure's number. It was going to be a long day.

1:27

Conan watched the bomb squad waddle into the hospital. He sighed and sat down on a bench, tense, with his head in his hands. This day had already been going down a terrible path and now it was getting worse. He rubbed his face. He hadn't even known that'd be possible. He sighed, and looked at the sky which was crystal clear blue, but he only enjoyed it for a moment as the sun was beating down on his face which he did not appreciate much. It was getting hot out. He reluctantly stood and walked over to the Inspector.

Inspector Megure was not a small man, but he was surprisingly athletic despite his shape. Next to him was Takagi and Miwako Sato. Sato was one of those women who answered to about three people. The inspector, the superintendent and herself. Absolutely zero people bossed her around. Conan had started to admire her as time went on as well as Takagi and the inspector. Turning small may not have been good for his social life but it was certainly good for his stuck up personality. That had been toned down and he had learned how to become more apathetic to the people around him, and he had begun to care about them as individuals. The inspector was holding a radio and conversing with the man on the inside.

"What do you see?" "I see the package in question sir. Approaching." There were a tense few seconds. "I'm there. Should I open it?" The inspector took a deep breath. "Proceed." he whispered. "Opening." Silence. It was a terrible silence in which nobody breathed. "Uh sir there's nothing here. It's empty." "What?" exclaimed 5 voices. "No wait there is something. It's a note." "Read it." Instructed Megure.

 _Death Swarms Within Its Rocky Wall_

 _Where All Are One, One Will Rules All_

 _Below the Dead, the Living Strive,_

 _With Mindless Will to Serve the Hive._

"What the fuck?" said Takagi. "It's another riddler." said Megure. "Oh joy." said Conan. Everyone stared at him. "What? Last time Takagi and I got stuck in the Tokyo Tower with a bomb and we almost died." "Don't remind me." Muttered Sato and Takagi. They glanced at each other surprised. "Yes well that is not happening again." said Megure. "For two reasons. One, there will be no diving into anything recklessly. Two, Conan will not be anywhere near any of this." Conan shrugged. He would get there either way. He felt someone staring at him and found himself staring into the face of Detective Takagi. Conan had a feeling the Detective knew exactly what Conan was thinking. Conan was also convinced he was getting closer to figuring out his old identity. Conan had mixed feelings about that. He wasn't against Takagi, in fact he had become closer to him over the years, but he knew the cost of the truth on others.

He did not want to lose another innocent life to this hell that was his life. He did not want anothers blood on his hands. He already had enough there.

"Are you sure about that?" Conan asked innocently still staring at Takagi. "What?" asked Megure. "Well.. I know what that poem means. Or at least where its from."

 _ **A/N: Hi again. This has been a busy several hours. I wrote two chapters for this and two for my FNAF one. Any suggestions for this? Also don't worry I have not forgotten about what Ai and Conan**_ _ **talked about on the roof that will come in time. Oh also I may take some suggestions. If you have any ideas or you want to see anything specific in this story let me know and I might put it in. Until next time! ~Nebilas**_


	9. Chapter 8: Jeopardized Secrets

Chapter 8: Jeopardized Secrets

Ai was lost. She had fled the hospital after slapping Conan and was walking aimlessly. She knew it was selfish to leave but she needed as much distance as she could put between herself and that stupid, ignorant, detective brat. She turned left into an isolated alley. A cat fled from her. She hardly noticed. Had she been in a normal place of mind, she might have noticed the dark figure step out of a car behind her. Her thoughts remained on Conan. 'What does he know?' She thought more about that horrible conversation. She screamed and punched the wall directly next to her. Her eyes filled with reflex tears and she stared at her knuckles, not really seeing them. They were bleeding. She sighed and pulled out her cell phone. She scrolled to Agasa and pushed his contact. As she put the phone to her ear, a bottle moved directly behind her. She whipped around and was greeted by the sight of a crowbar coming towards her face. A flash of pain and everything went black.

1:34

"Seriously?" asked Takagi. "You already know what that dumb poem means." He was not surprised Conan figured it out but he was surprised it was so fast. "Yeah it's from a children's book I used to read. It was called Deltora as I recall." Conan furrowed his brow. "The only problem is that it was a series and I don't remember which book it was from. I know what it was about I just can't remember… Maybe it doesn't matter." "Sir!" shouted an officer who came sprinting out of the hospital with a piece of paper. 'Oh me and my big mouth' Conan thought to himself.

" We found this under the bed of Mouri Ran." "Show me" said Megure.

 _Shades of Black and Shades of Grey_

 _You have opposed and now you'll pay_

 _Sleeping investigator_

 _You'll find me later_

 _In the cuffs I deserve_

 _But first a game I shall construct_

 _one will be found in a hidden duct_

 _Two will be found on a spire_

 _Three will be found within the fire_

 _Four to be lured away from their beds._

 _Five to be found with the man called Red_

 _Six the school of the Shrunken_

 _Seven from the call of the broken._

 _And Eight, the order of Black and Numbers_

 _Cries to the heavens while you slumber_

 _Constantly changing_

 _We are forever ranging_

 _We laugh as you wade through the muck_

 _But at the same time we wish you luck._

 _In the terms of a clock_

 _You have 24 hours before each riddle goes tock._

"I fucking hate poets." muttered Takagi.

4:30

 _21 Hours Left_

Ai woke up to an earsplitting headache. She moaned and tried to roll only to realize she had been restrained. She tried to stretch as much as she could, getting a feel for how much space she had. 'Wow this guy knows what he's doing.' She thought. She swore quite colorfully for a few moments and banged her head on the floor. She immediately regretted it and felt blood trickle down her face. Most likely from the previous attack. She took a glance around the room and realized she was in a… room. 'Gods my head hurts' she thought, grimacing. She looked around again. No windows and no door that she could see. A camera in the far corner. And three other shapes on the ground. She wasn't alone.

She tried to stand but she found that her ankle restraints were tied into the floor, and she promptly fell over again after trying to take a step. "Shit!" she hissed. "Ai is that you?" came a voice. 'Oh no.. no no tell me I misheard that' she thought, now frozen in horror. "Ai?" Ai took a deep breath. "Yeah I'm here Ayumi."

4:30

Conan was tearing the bombers poem apart. Number one made no sense, and that was a problem because it was the first one he had to solve. And he was down to roughly 21 hours, depending on when it was supposed to be solved. Two and the spire. Was it the tokyo tower? Again? "Can't they be more creative?" he grumbled. Three was puzzling. What fire? It said THE and not A, so it clearly meant something specific, not just a vague occurrence. He'd move past that. Four seemed dark and foreboding but he didn't really have a clue what it meant. Five and the man called Red. Not enough context. Six… That was too obvious. This was what made this even more serious for Conan as opposed to anyone else. Of course it could be talking about Ai and not him but he doubted it. He sighed. He hadn't seen her since their discussion on the rooftop. Or any of the kids for that matter. He sighed. Of course they disappeared again. They had a knack for doing that. 'I'm sure they're fine' he thought absently.

Seven? No clue. Eight? Black Organization is obvious. Conan swore. This was getting him nowhere. What was the point of the first poem? He had a vague 20 odd hours to solve this and this made no sense. Who was going to die because of his incompetence? He slammed his fist on the table. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Unknown to him he was being watched by a pair of eyes from the front window.

Conan pulled out his phone and pulled up Haibara's number. He put the phone to his ear and waited. He began to jot more notes on the page. To his surprise, he hit voicemail. He sighed and activated the tracker on his glasses. He had hidden a tracking device on her phone weeks before. And if that didn't work he still had the detective badge to track. He pulled it up and found it quickly. He frowned when he noticed it wasn't moving. Maybe she was sitting? He sighed and stood. He walked over to his skateboard by the front door and checked its power. Backup storage full. He nodded and left the house. Had he been paying attention he might have noticed the person sneaking in behind him into the house as he left. Said person watched Conan disappear around the corner and entered the house, closing the front door behind him.


	10. Chapter 9: Theorizing and Revising

Chapter 8: Theorizing and Revising

16:45

Ai was not happy. She was stuck in a room with the rest of the detective boys, she was beginning to cramp, her throat was hurting because she hadn't had any water in hours, and she had a feeling Conan wasn't aware they weren't missing. The last one was much more concerning than any of the rest. The kids however were also a problem. That made it that much harder for Conan to come rescue them as always tended to happen. She sighed and put her head down on the floor. All she could do was wait it out. Fortunately all of the kids were asleep, so she actually had some peace and quiet for once. How they could sleep while bound she didn't understand but she was grateful for it. She cringed as her head wound reminded her of its presence. She groaned quietly and looked around again.

No captor had shown up since they'd been here which Haibara found odd. She saw the camera in the top corner but beyond that saw nothing that actually showed a way out. She also had noticed a box in the far corner, but as she couldn't actually get to it, it did not interest her. She sighed again. She still had faith in Kudo.. but it didn't look good. Her phone was gone, as was her detective badge. He had no way to track her. She shifted a bit, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head and closed her eyes waiting for sleep to claim her.

16:50

Conan was about a minute away from Ai's phone. He sighed and wondered what the hell she was doing so far away. He stopped outside of a coffee shop that was on the corner. He sighed and looked at the tracker one more time. She appeared to be… next to it? He paused. He shrugged and turned it off and entered the shop. He scanned around, and did not see her. He frowned and turned the tracker back on. She still hadn't moved. His eyes widened. He turned around and left, and sprinted over to the neighboring alley. He ran down it and came to a halt where she supposedly was. He looked around and found her phone smashed. He paled as he surveyed. There was a spray of blood along the wall, and a crowbar with the blood still on it. He cursed and whipped out his phone. As he dialed Agasa, he noticed something else about 20 feet away. It was a small black bag. He cautiously walked over and started opening it, holding his phone with his shoulder. "Hello?" said Agasa.

Conan paused in his work with the bag and answered. "Professor Haibara is gone. Her phone has been destroyed and I don't see another detective badge besides the one at the house." "Wait seriously?" asked Agasa. "Yeah but can you figure out where her badge is they aren't popping up on the-" He froze realizing the significance of those words. He stared at the bag and finished opening it. Out fell 4 twisted and broken detective badges. "Professor he has them all. The kids too." "WHAT? Shinichi this just went from bad to worst situation possible!" Conan started walking back towards his skateboard. "I know professor. I know. But this makes no sense at all. Why would he kidnap people already? That would be fourth on the list. This deliberately goes against his own list of the events. Why would-?" Conan stopped dead in his tracks. "Professor did you ever figure out which book in the series that poem was from?" "The Deltora one? Yeah it was book 4 but I don't get what that has to do with… Shinichi are you implying the first poem was just telling you which step was coming first?" "I'm afraid so professor." He noticed something else at the bottom of the bag.

"There's also another fucking note." "Another one?" Ages asked, surprised. "This asshole needs to lay off." he muttered. "No I think this is just his 'how to play' round professor." Conan sighed and began to read.

 _Across the hellish river_

 _The man who falls in love_

 _Street lamps show his face_

 _From the hotel window_

 _The woman he loves watches_

 _Museum shows on her TV_

 _Owner of the Hotel_

 _Murder the man across the river_

Conan stared at the piece of paper incredulously. "What. The. Fuck. Is this bullshit? Okay, okay." Conan whispered trying to reassure himself. "I have some time. Professor this is bad. This is clearly still the bomber which means I have about 20 hours to find the girls and hopefully let the police disarm the bomb. Otherwise they're dead along with who knows how many others. I'll talk to you later. Talk to the kids parents, I'm going to call the inspector and meet him at the hospital. I want to know how the hell that guy managed to get into Ran's room and plant the first two poems." Conan glanced around one last time, hung up and called Megure.

17:00

"Thank you Conan I'll see you there in 45 minutes." said Inspector Megure. He hung up and sighed, reclining in his chair. "Shiratori! We're leaving in 15!" he yelled across to the man across the room. "Also where the hell is Takagi?" "He said he was looking into something sir." Shiratori said coming up to him. "Also why are we leaving in 15? We could leave now and be there in 30." "I told conan 45 because we need to talk, come with me." They left the main room and entered a hall and passed a woman walking back the other way. "Actually.." Megure muttered. "Sato! You come as well." The woman in question turned around and glanced at Shiratori questioningly. Shiratori shrugged. He had no answers. The two officers followed Megure into a viewing area. The area behind the window was lit, but empty.

Megure sighed and adjusted his hat. He looked at both and then began. "Conan found another poem. We have people working on it. Also the rest of the detective boys have gone missing. Conan believes that they are currently with a bomb that is set to go in the 24 hours given to us by the bomber. When I pointed out the '4 lured away from their beds' was step 4, he told me the first poem was just a reference to book 4 of a book series, showing us that the fourth bombing area would happen first." He looked up at the two young officers before him. Shiratori had started taking notes, and Sato was hanging on his every word.

He looked back and forth between the two and looked at his watch. They still had 10 minutes before they had to leave to meet Conan. He rose his head and gazed at the wall for a moment and began to speak again. "Now what I say next stays strictly off books. Nobody else hears this capish? However I will be talking to Takagi about this as well." Both nodded and Shiratori put away his notebook. Megure looked up at the ceiling, and began to speak yet again. "This is the weirdest bombing case I've ever seen. The clues make no sense, the detective agency was bombed, and Ran is in the hospital. This has personal vendetta written all over it." He sighed again. This was where his theory became far-fetched. "And I think it's against Conan."


	11. Chapter10 Regrets and a Lack of Evidence

_**A/N: Hey guys I am back yet again. I know most of you aren't reading this authors note. But to be fair I usually don't read the ones in other peoples. So touche. That's all I wanted to say. (Gods this was pointless wasn't but now it's here. Sorry)**_

 _ **Until Next Time ~Nebilas**_

Chapter 10: Regrets and a Lack of Evidence

17:07

Conan skidded past a shopping mall and whizzed around a corner into an alley. He stopped and kicked his skateboard up to his hand. He was closer to the hospital and he didn't want to sit still while waiting for the inspector. He thought better when he walked. He sighed and looked up at the now cloudy sky. He frowned at it. It had been sunny earlier. He sighed and pulled out the bag in his pocket and stared at it sadly. His thoughts drifted to the conversation with Ai up on the roof.

 _Earlier Today_

"Ai… I want you to stop work on the cure. I know it's a terrible thing to ask with how long you've been working on it but let's be honest about this. The only reason I've wanted the cure recently was Ran. And… Well that's no longer on the table. I've pretty much set up a life as Conan. I know how much time you've spent on it.. And I don't want to see you work yourself into the ground again. That time… I almost lost you Ai and I don't want that to ever happen again. So promise me you'll stop work on it."

Conan finally picked up the courage to look back at her. She was still standing there, completely shellshocked. He swallowed and tried to move closer, but she backed away. He flinched back, seeing the tears on her face. "Haibara.. I-" "Don't." She whispered. "Just… Don't." "Ai I'm sorry I ju-" "Oh you're sorry?" She began advancing towards him. "You're SORRY? Oh well let me just do a fucking cartwheel because that just makes everything better! She stormed up to him pressing him against the edge of the rooftop, until he ran out of room and stopped. Ai did not until she got within an inch of his face.

"Do you have any idea what I sacrificed? The hours. The pain. The hell I put myself through just to put your miserable life back together just the way it was. And now? You say never mind. You. Kudo Shinichi. Are an arrogant. Worthless. Heartless. Pile of Shit. I wish that the poison had killed you." She backed up and began to walk away. Conan leapt to grab her. "Haibara I-" "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" She screamed and slapped him across the face. Then she turned and ran.

 _Present_

Conan stopped walking and dug his fingernail into his palm. He did not want that conversation to be the last memory he had with Ai. He had brought it up hopefully to try and ease her mind but it had had the opposite effect. He looked up and swore that it would not be the last thing he had done with Ai. He resumed walking towards the hospital.

17:08

"Sir that seems a bit far-fetched. I was agreeing with you up until that point." said a baffled Shiratori. "Let's hear him out Shiratori." reasoned Sato. "The inspector would not be saying this unless he had valid reason." They both looked back at the inspector who took a deep breath. "Look. I know it sounds ridiculous. But it just doesn't add up any other way. First the attack on Ran. Now I know-" he cut off Shiratori before he could intervene. "That could also mean Mouri, which is actually still very possible. However, if the bomber were going after Mouri wouldn't he have included Conan in the blast? He most likely knows about the boy and how Mouri does care about him. So why not? Why just Ran?"

"Now that explanation is weak. But this is why I began to think about this. This kidnapping case of Conan's four friends." "Woah what?" exclaimed Sato. "The kids are missing?" "Yes and Conan found their detective badges smashed with another poem inside. And while I know I should be thinking about the poem I can't stop thinking… Why the kids? They had no real relation to Mouri. It makes no sense. But if you tie in Conan it makes much more sense. He was the one most likely to find that bag. He loves Ran as a sister. He is the leader of that group of kids, and depending on what that poem says… We could learn a lot more. But for now that's all I've got."

Silence was what greeted him. Both were staring at the inspector wide-eyed. "Do you think he knows?" asked Sato. "Who Conan? Oh of that I'm almost positive. That kid is one of the brightest people I've ever met." answered Megure. "But why?" questioned Shiratori. "He's just a kid!" "Think back Shiratori. Even as a child think of all of the cases he's solved. The people he's put behind bars, and even though he's managed to shy away from all of the limelight it is a ridiculously high number. Not to mention all of the times he helped out Mouri. I'm not saying this idea isn't preposterous from anything we've ever seen but… We've never seen anything like Conan before. I don't even think Kudo was this intelligent as a child."

He sighed and glanced at his watch. "Shiratori? Let's go. Sato, you run point with Chiba and find those kids." "Yes sir." She said and ran out. "Sir…" Shiratori began. "I think you might be right. Crazy as it is… I won't completely believe it until there's more evidence but…" "I'm right there with you Shiratori. Let's go meet him."

17:40

 _18 hours left_

Conan pulled up to the hospital on his skateboard and jumped off after skidding around a group of doctors still in their scrubs. He looked around. No sign of Megure. He stared up at the hospital and grimaced. He did not want to go back in but he knew he had no choice. He sighed and turned around as he heard a car pull up. Out stepped Megure and Shiratori. Conan put up his innocent child facade. "Inspector! Over here!" he yelled while waving. He felt stupid waving like this but it was what the rest of the detective boys did so he might as well.

"Hi Conan" greeted the pair of officers. "Ready to head in?" "Yeah!" exclaimed Conan. 'Gods no' he thought on the inside. They walked in Conan carrying his skateboard. The officers went to the front to ask but Conan stopped them. "I know which room it is! Come on!" and proceeded to take off running up the stairs. "It's times like these that make me doubt your theory Inspector." muttered Shiratori. The inspector sighed and started walking up the stairs. This was going to be a long day. Conan, watching them from the second floor, was thinking exactly the same thing.


	12. Chapter 11: Beautiful Handwriting

**_A/N: Alright not gonna lie, this one was fun to write. Late as it is here when I'm wrapping this chapter up, I really enjoy putting myself into the shoes of ********. I'm not allowed to disclose that name. But let's just say that character gets the last say at the end of this chapter. Enjoy!_**

 ** _Until Next Time ~Nebilas_**

Chapter 11: Beautiful Handwriting

17:45

Conan meandered up to Ran's old coma room. He sighed and he opened the door and waved at the inspector again. He walked in, and surveyed the room. He sighed and began researching the room to make sure the police had not missed anything. He really doubted it but he figured he might as well. He sighed as he immediately found a blank piece of paper. Who the hell was Megure hiring?

He threw on some gloves and picked it up. There appeared to be writing indentations. Perhaps a nurse had dropped it? He shrugged and pulled out a pencil and began sketching over it to see if he could make sense of it. His eyes widened at the first line. Before he could do more, Megure walked in and Conan shoved the piece of paper into his shirt, hoping Megure wouldn't notice. It did not that the inspector had as he walked past and surveyed the bed. He let out a sigh of relief and the inspector turned to look at him. Conan chose to have a mild coughing fit instead of look him in the eye.

Megure lost interest and began walking around the bed, peering behind it and under it again. Conan looked around again also. "Say inspector did Shiratori go check the security cameras?" "Huh? Oh yes he did. Hopefully they should shed some light on how he actually got in here." He sighed and looked at the child before him. Conan did not notice as he looked underneath the chairs. Megure wondered if Conan knew something he did not. He held back a laugh. Of course he did. He always seemed to. 'What is going on in that kids' head?' he pondered.

'God I know I invited him here but now I just want him to leave so that I can read this.' He felt the paper against his chest and felt a twinge of guilt. He shoved it away. This one was his responsibility. He glanced at the inspector who was watching him intently. He sighed and yawned, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He glanced up at the final chair and there was nothing there either. Just the "blank" piece of paper. He climbed out from under them and meandered back over to the inspector. "Hey inspector? I'm going to go to the bathroom ok?" and promptly took off towards the nearest one. "Wait Conan!..." but he was already around the corner. He grumbled some not nice things about children and went to go wait for him. Conan meanwhile had moved the piece of paper from his shirt to his back pocket.

17:53

Shiratori was scanning through the security footage of the coma ward hall. He had made no progress so far and was still waiting. Just as he was about to zone out, the door opened behind him and Conan ran up next to him. "Anything Shiratori?" asked the inspector. "Nothing. It's weird. Just Conan and the others." "Hey Shiratori. Go to night!" instructed Conan. "What why?" he asked. "Because that was the only time the room was completely empty besides… Ran." He choked up a little. He had almost forgotten. They still hadn't officially pulled the plug. They were doing it tomorrow. He wiped a tear away. "Anyways. Night." Shiratori complied and whizzed past several hours until Mouri and Eri were gone. He slowed it down from there. About a half hour later, someone with a package walked down the hall and disappeared into the coma ward. "Well there he is." said Shiratori.

Conan stared at the screen and the anger he had felt earlier boiled up inside of him again. This man had robbed his best friends life, everything that she had worked for in her life was now gone, in the space of a few minutes. And the worst part was it was most likely his fault. He clenched his fists and stared at the ground in shame. "And there he goes, without the package." the inspector murmured. "Oh no… Wait, what is he doing?" Conan looked up. They had followed him to a different screen. He was writing something down. "Is he writing the poem? But he's already…" Conan's eyes widened as he watched him rip off the top paper, and the one underneath it. He tucked the original in his pocket and held the second one in front of him blank. Then he looked at the camera and winked, before going back to the coma hall.

18:30

 _17 hours left_

Conan waved goodbye to the inspector and Shiratori as they drove away. He had declined a ride so that he could think. He had pretended to search with two officers for the paper that he had already found. When that room had turned up no paper, they went to check the other rooms as well. Knowing that a break in character may make them suspicious, Conan helped there as well. He thought back to the security footage. That man had actually had the audacity to wink at the camera. He knew Conan would see it. He knew that Conan would find the blank page. He knew he would see the first line. _Dear Kudo Shinichi._ Conan had never been so angry in his life. This bomber whoever it was would pay. Conan put down his skateboard, and headed off back to the professor's house.

18:45

Conan pulled into the professor's driveway and hopped off the skateboard. He practically sprinted inside and whipped out the paper from his back pocket. He had to slow himself down so he didn't mess up but he continued to sketch over the message. It read:

 _Dear Kudo Shinichi,_

 _I have a feeling that I have gotten your attention at this point in time. As you know, I have all four of your friends, and the poem you have is the only one to save them. The one you said I believe "What the fuck is this bullshit." That one. You really need to work on your language. As it were I write this in the hope my surveyors do not see this. I highly doubt it, but one cannot be too careful. As it were, I'm afraid you will not be getting much sleep for the next week, assuming you survive that long. The plan is to make the police sprint all over the city, and as you well know you are just a child. They won't actually disclose anything to you. Also, the bomb will go off at 11:30 every 24 hours. (I feel like I can say that because it levels the playing field a bit more.) Finally, I know letters are old fashioned but I still love them. It conveys effort as opposed a simple, "lol you might die" text. That's all I have for you for now. Gin has no idea that I kidnapped Sherry, and if you manage to rescue, I suggest you keep her presence here a secret. He has some… Odd tendencies. Good luck. I'll be in touch my silver bullet. The war has begun._

 _Lots of Love,_

 _Vermouth_

 _P.S. Let me tell you this plan was not my first choice. Bombs are distasteful in my opinion, even if they are effective. See you soon!_


	13. Chapter 12: An Unexpected Helper

Chapter 12: An Unexpected Helper

20:30

 _15 Hours Left_

"Sherry… Sherry… Give me your answer do." Ai's eyes flew open in horror as she heard that voice and she frantically looked around and discovered a person in the corner. The person in the corner continued to sing, while pouring themselves a drink. "I'm half crazy, all for my love?" They trailed off. "No that's not right. Ooh I remember. I'm completely batshit crazy, all for my hatred of you." They frowned. "Doesn't really work though does it." They rose and walked over to Ai and leered over her. Ai cowered in horror as the man she had spent so many years avoiding towered over her with a sinister grin. "I've missed you Sherry." Ai frantically began to struggle. "Oh don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Yet." Gin began to laugh, and he drew out a knife.

20:30

Conan was still livid 2 hours later. And his attitude was getting progressively worse. The poem actually made no sense. The letter was deliberately to piss him off and she hadn't even mentioned Ran. 'That bitch is going to PAY' he seethed. But first he had to solve the poem. Which he could not do for the life of him. He knew he had to wait in order to call the police, but he was getting twitchy waiting for someone else to solve it. He went back to trying to solve the impossible poem. After a few moments, he glanced up and saw a dark figure sneaking away from the house. His heart stopped cold and he leapt up and took off after them.

He grabbed a soccer ball and activated his power shoes and whipped open the door. The figure whipped around as Conan let the ball fly at max speed. The figure stood no chance and the ball smashed him in the face, knocking him back several feet. Conan ran up to the still figure on the ground ready to subdue him with his tranquilizer only to find… Detective Takagi. Conan stared at him for a few moments in disbelief. He shook his head and pulled out his phone and dialed the professor. When he answered he said "Professor we have a situation can you come out front?"

20:32

Ai kept her eyes closed waiting for the knife to hit her. When nothing happened she opened one eye and was greeted to the sight of Gin laughing. Except this time he was just genuinely laughing. She looked at him astonished until the laugh became feminine. Her eyes widened as she realized who she was actually dealing with. Vermouth ripped off the Gin mask and winked at Haibara. "Oh that was so much fun." she giggled. As glad as Ai was that it wasn't Gin, this wasn't much better.

"Hello Sherry, or would you prefer Haibara at this point?" Ai just stared. Vermouth sighed and muttered something unintelligible. "Alright you probably have a lot of questions. I'll answer... two. Nobody can hear you scream by the way. Oh you know what I'm feeling generous. I'll answer five." Vermouth removed the gag from Haibara's mouth. "That's a big leap in questions allowed." Haibara whispered hoarsely. "Ok I'm feeling _very_ generous." Vermouth shrugged. They stared at each other. "Well?" Vermouth asked. "Don't call me Sherry in front of the kids." "They're asleep silly." Haibara looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Can we have water?" asked Haibara. "Nope!" said Vermouth happily.

Haibara sighed. "Of course not. Where are we?" "Across the street from the Beika Art Museum." "Why?" Haibara blurted out. She cursed mentally, she had wasted a question. "Because it's one of the first places silver bullet solved a case." Ai whipped her head back up to stare at her. Apparently it hadn't been wasted. "Ok…. Why did you kidnap us?"

"The answer to that is long and complicated." Vermouth whispered. "Just tell me." Haibara snarled. "Touchy are we? Very well. After you took off, I started the poem game. You're part one of the sequence in the poem. Well technically you're fourth but that's besides the point. Your friend has… oh a little less than 15 hours to save you before that bomb in the corner goes off." She paused. "I guess it wasn't that long or complicated." She laughed and smiled at Ai. "Last question!" she said in a sing song voice.

"Why hasn't the organisation killed Kaito Kid yet?" Vermouth froze, the smile disappearing from her face. She slapped Haibara across the face, sending her back onto the ground. "Don't ever bring him up again." Vermouth rose and headed towards the door. "For the kids sake, I hope silver bullet solves this. I'm still keeping his identity to me for now. Watch that line. Another question like that I might slip." She walked out and shut the door, leaving Ai in darkness yet again.

22:08

Conan was staring at Takagi who was still unconscious on the couch. 'He'd better have a reeeeealy good explanation for this.' he thought, glaring at the man on the couch. He sighed and walked back over to the poem again. He glanced at the clock. He had 13 hours and 22 minutes. He grumbled and immersed himself in the poem yet again. He glared at it with immense hatred. This poem had no rhyme scheme, had no sense, the story seemed jumbled and made no sense at all. It went from a man in love to death to a river and he did not understand it at all.

That made three things in this house that he did not understand. The two poems and the presence of Takagi. Unless… Conan rose and strode over to Takagi, and pulled on his cheek. It began to give and he readied his tranquilizer as he ripped off the detective Takagi mask. Underneath was… His own face? He recoiled in shock and brushed it off as a trick and pulled again. Nothing. Conan was floored. Why… He was hit with an astonishing realization. "PROFESSOR!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. The professor ran in after a few seconds. "What is it Shin-Conan." "You can call me Shinichi Professor." He looked back at the supposedly sleeping figure on the couch. "He already knows. Right Kaito?" and proceeded to kick him in the shin.

"OWWW That was uncalled for!" screeched Kaito. "Oh really was it? After all you are on my couch and you were in the house for whatever obscure reason." "I came to check up on you! You know how I like to check up on my favorite people." He looked off to the side. "I was going to announce a heist but I heard about the bombing and put it on hold. I thought 'Oh maybe it will only be a day or two but no it turns out that you're going to be occupied for the next eight days at _least._ " "At least." Agreed Conan. "But why are you here _now?"_ "I'm not allowed to visit?" he asked feigning an air of surprise. Getting no smiles he frowned. "I'm here well… Uhm… To help."

"Look I know." he cut off Conan who was about to yell at him. "I usually work on the other side of the law but you don't know why. One day maybe I'll tell you. But for now just know that I will help you in any way I can. Can we call a temporary truce?" He held out his hand. Conan was speechless. This was not what he had expected at all. He had every reason to refuse Kaito's offer. And yet.. For some reason he believed Kaito. He reached out and shook the hand before him. They smiled at each other. "What can I do first?" asked the thief. "Well, I recommend you become me for the next several days." The thief laughed and moved his hair into the appropriate position. "That's uncanny." Muttered Agasa. "I know amazing isn't it?" grinned the thief. "What next?" he said looking back at the detective. "Next? You help me decode what's on this paper." Conan said grimacing. "No problem, I Kaito-Kid am the greatest codebreaker of our time." he said bowing.

He snatched the paper from Conan and read it grinning. He finished it and paused, his grin fading slightly. He scanned it again his grin vanishing without a trace as he read it a second time. By the third he had an incredulous look on his face. He looked at Conan again. "This is it?" "Yup." muttered Conan with his jaw clenched. Kaito read the poem one last time. "What the _fuck_ is _this_ bullshit?" "That's exactly what he said." the professor whispered to the thief. "How long do we have?" The thief asked. Conan glanced at his watch. "13 hours and 15 minutes." The thief let out a whistle. "This is gonna be close."

 _ **A/N: This is weird I usually write at night but I'm on a roll right now! Party! Ah well, I'm having fun. I hope you're enjoying the story. Until Next Time ~Nebilas**_


	14. Chapter 13: A Frustrating Night

Chapter 13: A Frustrating Night

02:48

 _8H 42M_

"Look man, I still don't get this, and this is practically my job. I have to write these like once a month!" Conan walked back into the room yawning, carrying coffee with him. "I know. We've dissected this 40 different ways and we've got nothing." He put the coffee down and Kaito continued. "Rearranging gets us nowhere, classic code breaking techniques does jack diddly squat… It has to be on a word to word basis." He began scribbling again, writing all of the words down separately. Conan sighed and breathed the smell of his coffee and glanced to their left. Approximately 35 pages sat on the floor, crumpled up or covered in so many scribbles they had run out of room, only to find out that they were completely off.

Kaito picked up his coffee and drank deeply. "Kaito I'm gonna call Megure, see if any progress has been made on their end." Kaito leaned back for a moment and yawned before nodding and scribbling again. Conan pulled up the contact on his phone and pushed it. As it was ringing a thought popped into his head. He needed to ask Kaito a question. "Hello?" answered the inspector. "Hey inspector it's Conan." "Conan? Why are you up at this hour?" "Same as you sir. Have you made any progress?" The inspector sighed. "No we haven't. We have 25 people working on it and no progress has been made at all. It makes no sense. Occasionally we get sentences, but none of them are locations. And they don't apply to the situation."

"Yeah same here inspector. Tell me have you gotten that sentence about the 'woman killing the man and turning the river red'? That stuck out to me for some reason." "We did actually. That's the one sentence that we've gotten repeatedly. You don't think…" "Honestly no. I don't know what that means. However I also think it has nothing to do with this, at least not yet." The inspector sighed. "It disturbs me that our best breakers have gotten as far as a 10 year old." "Oh! Well uh…" Conan looked at Kaito sitting next to him and smirked. "Actually Shinichi is here!" Kaito whipped his head up to stare at Conan. "Oh really? He's helping? Good to hear can I speak to him?" Conan lifted the phone away from his head a moment. "Shinichi he wants to talk to you." Conan said grinning broadly.

Kaito glared at him and mouthed 'no'. Conan blocked the talking end and hissed to him "You're going to have to talk to him anyways in person, just start now." Kaito sighed and took the phone walking away from the table and poem, glad for the reprieve, but also angry at the small detective behind him, who had already picked up where Kaito had left off. "Hey inspector it's been awhile." "Kudo! It really is you. Where have you been?" "Europe mostly. Couple of weird cases up there. Took a while. So no breakthroughs I'm assuming from Conan's sad look." "Confirmed and he said nothing over there?" "Yeah this poem is dumb and I hate it." You and me both Kudo. Look, can I tell you something?" "Uh sure inspector what is it." "Do me a favor and don't tell this to Conan."

This threw Kaito for a minute. "Uh.. Sure. Why?" "Well we're starting to think that this is all about Conan. We're pretty sure the bomber has it out for him specifically. He targeted the detective boys and Ran after all. But just keep an eye out for him alright?" "Yeah no problem inspector. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Kaito hung up and walked over to Conan who was still focused on the poem. "The inspector thinks the bomber is deliberately coming after you." "Yeah so do I." Then Conan realized what he was saying. "Wait the _inspector_ thinks that?" Kaito nodded. "Oh god, that could be bad. My identity-" "That's not my problem with that statement." Kaito frowned down at him

"My problem is that who the hell would come after a kid. Now I know you aren't a kid but still. Not many others do. What.." He counted on his fingers. "Me, Agasa, your Osaka friend, that scary girl who's like you… Anyone else?" Conan sighed and slouched on the couch. "I'm pretty sure Sera Masumi knows, Akai Shuichi most likely knows as well. And… One other person." "Who is it?" Kaito asked curiously. "I can't tell you. It'll put you in danger." Kaito chuckled. "Well Conan I can't help but point out I really already am as it is." "I mean like… Bad." Kaito frowned. "Does it have to do with how you got like this? You never told me." "And I won't if I can help it. People die every time I meet them." "Them?" Kaito pounced. Conan immediately turned away and started scribbling down more words.

Kaito began pacing. "So 'they' could mean one person, but judging on your reaction it's most likely 'they' plural. So… and organization? You were clearly poisoned but otherwise I have nothing to go on… Hmmm…" He sat down across from Conan and stared at him. Conan was very uncomfortable. He was hitting very close to home. "Look can you focus on this?" "But I want to know!" Grinned Kaito. "I know Kaito but we have limited time and the Bla-Bomber still has them so we have to do this." Kaito froze. "You almost said something else! You said bla-. So Black… Black Organization?" He smiled victoriously after seeing Conan's horrified face. "Ha! Although I feel you could have chosen a more clever name there detective." "It's their actual name!" Conan said defensively. He shoved the paper away and sighed.

"Alright look. I'll tell you everything I know so far, but Haibara would be much better at telling you about this. She used to be in it." "That girl used to be in-?" "Look if you keep interrupting me I'll never get done and we don't have that much time Capish?" Kaito nodded sheepishly and made a 'my lips are sealed' gesture. Conan took another sip of coffee and started talking.

04:37

"Has anyone made any progress at all?" "No inspector." replied Shiratori. Another man approached the inspector "This just may be impossible. It's possible that this is actually impossible to solve in order to instill a feeling of doubt in us for the next 7 steps." The inspector stared at the man who had said this and wanted to punch him. Instead he said "We can't believe that. Children's lives are at stake here, and who knows how many others depending on where the bomb is. This is priority one and you know it. This is effectively a terrorist attack as you well know so don't give me the 'this impossible shit'. Solve it."

He stalked out of the room and left the room silenced. Shiratori was about to follow him out when he stormed back in. "Also where the hell is Takagi?" "Uh he was sick today sir he never came in." "But… I… Goddamit never mind." he growled and left. Shiratori ran after him. "Inspector do you want me to call him?" "No just text him let him know to be here at 8 in the morning." "Yes sir. Anything else?" "Kudo is back. He'll be helping I'm sure. This is personal to him as well. We might as well embrace it. Don't disclose anything from him." The inspector walked to a window and looked at the lit up night Tokyo. "We need all the help we can get." he murmured.


	15. Chapter 14: The First Step

05:24

 _6H 6M Left_

"... and now Vermouth has started leaving these poems for me to solve as well as bombs. But something seems odd about her. Based on the 'my surveyors' line in her letter, she's being watched. From what I've gathered the boss loves her, but many in the organization question her loyalty so… This may be a test. Which means this could be my one shot to try and topple it." "Damn... " the thief breathed. "So you're basically screwed." "Yeah. It's great. Oh man that was actually refreshing. A break from the poem and I've never really had this conversation. It's good to let it go." Conan said leaning back into the couch, relaxing for a few moments before popping back up and staring at the poem again.

"Conan I-" "Nope! No questions until we solve this." The thief frowned and went back to the poem, reading again to jog his memory, though at this point he had basically memorized it. He sighed and wrote it down again, hoping to solve it before the detective. 30 minutes later, neither had made any progress, and both were exceedingly frustrated again. Conan ripped the paper he was currently working on into shreds and threw the pieces onto the table. Kaito leaned away as Conan sighed and slapped his cheeks a few times. The thief sighed and picked up a piece of the paper. "You might need this later." "Oh yes I'm sure my Greer method number 87 certainly helped. I got… 'Chickens streetlight bathtub fool man'." The thief cackled at this and picked up his own paper. "Well I got 'Rain several uneven possum." "So much for the best codebreaker of all time." "Oi. this thing is a bitch." Conan sighed and picked up another piece of paper and his eyes widened.

"No… No you can't be serious." "What is it?" Conan wrote down the original poem with the first words along a vertical line. He read again. "Kaito we've been doing this wrong!" The thief frowned. "Well obviously considering-" "No I mean like we've been looking for the wrong thing! This isn't a riddle, and it's not a code." Conan drew a box around the words he was looking for. "It's just the first word on every line." He said grinning. The thief's eyes widened and he snatched up one of his papers and looked. Sure enough there was the message, clear as day.

 _Across_

 _The_

 _Sreet_

 _From_

 _The_

 _Museum_

 _Owner_

 _Murder_

They looked at each other and grinned victoriously. "I'll call the inspector." said Kaito excitedly. "I'll get Agasa and get the car ready." Conan ran up the stairs and Kaito pulled out his phone.

06:04

"Hey Kudo what-? You solved it?" Everyone in the room stopped working and stared at the inspector. "Yeah… First word in every line?" Everyone working on the poem whipped around again and stared at the poem and groaned slapping themselves in the forehead or swearing at themselves. "That's great but which museum?" "Oh.. Uhh… One sec. CONAN! WHICH MUSEUM?" Kaito shouted up the stairs. "Beika art!" Came the faint reply. "Beika art." said Kaito. The inspector was clutching his ear, and had put it on speaker phone. "We'll dispatch bomb disposal and close off the area. See you there Kudo." Both hung up. "Shiratori!" Shouted the inspector. "Call down bomb disposal and give them the address! Chiba! Call the museum and tell them not to open today! Sato! Call Yumi and tell her give the order to seal off that area for a in a 3 block radius! GO!" "Sir!" They all shouted and began doing their tasks. "Everyone else! You know your positions. Either get on the phone or come with me. You know who you are let's move!" Everyone began moving into organized chaos and Megure sighed and looked at the ceiling muttering a brief prayer. Then walked out the door before popping back in. "You three join us there." he said to Shiratori, Chiba, and Sato. They all nodded and Megure left, following the throng of officers.

6:07

 _5H 23M_

Kaito and Conan had settled down from their high of solving the poem but were still exceedingly proud of themselves. Conan cracked his neck and Kaito was stretching his back and arms. The Professor was driving them to the Art Museum, but other than the sounds of the car and breathing, there were no noises. All three knew what was at stake. Conan stared out at the window watching the cars along the side of the room. They pulled up to the museum and glanced across the street. Before them was an eight story building, abandoned years before. The thief and Conan glanced at each other and took off towards the building. "Wait! Guys!" Shouted the professor. "Move the car far away inspector! Very far away!" Shouted Conan and both disappeared into the building. The professor sighed and glanced around, choosing to wait for the police to arrive before moving. He did not have to wait long.

6:10

The inspector stepped out of the car, waiting for the bomb squad to show up. "Sir! An old man is requesting to talk to you! Says his name is Agasa." "Oh fantastic where is he?" "Directly in front of the museum." said the officer. "Oh fantastic." the inspector muttered. He walked inside the 5 block barrier which was really just a precaution. The real line would be about a block and a half. The problem was Agasa was already within that. He reached Agasa directly in front of the museum as said and he began to talk. "Uh doc you know you're gonna have to move right?" "Yeah but…" The professor sighed and looked at the building. "Guess where Shinichi and Conan are?" The inspector followed his gaze. "Every time." he muttered under his breath. "Conan don't go in there. Conan let the adults do their job. Kudo be careful. Kudo let me do my job." Then louder. "Am I the only one they don't listen to?" The professor laughed nervously and the Inspector pulled out his phone to call Chiba.

"Chiba how close is the bomb squad?" "5 minutes out inspector." "Good, send them to the inner radius once they get here." He hung up and stared at the building. "Idiots." He muttered.

6:10

"Idiot." whispered Conan. "Shut up." The thief whispered back, clutching his shin. He had walked into a table when he wasn't looking where he was going. Conan shook his head and looked around. "The stairs should be around here somewhere." He walked a few more feet and turned a corner and found the stairs. "Up we go." he said quietly. As he walked up the stairs he looked around for traps or bombs or bomb traps. As he hit the 2nd floor, he paused and turned left to be confronted by a mess of wires all wired to several separate bombs. All of those bombs were also connected to several tripwires on the ground and about 3 feet high, and anywhere in between. Conan stared at the situation before him appalled.

He frowned and crept up to the first bomb on the right. He studied it and noticed it was connected to about 4 wires all separate. He shook his head slowly and noticed a door at the end of the hallway with a note on it. He zoomed in with his glasses and rolled his eyes at it.

 _They're in here!_

 _(I suck at drawing sorry)_

 _-V_

Conan glanced to his right and saw Kaito squinting at it. "Well she's right about thing" said the thief. Conan looked at him questioningly. "That drawing is awful." Conan laughed in spite of himself and began calculating a route through the room. After a few moments, he began to walk through, moving over some wires and crouching under others. At one point he actually tripped a wire and he shut his eyes waiting for the end. But to his surprise nothing happened until something landed on his head. It was a piece of paper. _Gotcha!_ Conan was not amused. Kaito however thought it was hilarious and attempted to contain his laughing and managed to hold himself to a giggle. Conan sighed and rolled his eyes, before avoiding the next 10 wires flawlessly and was clear, making it to the door. After checking the door for traps and finding none, he opened the door, taking the note on it with him.

He turned on his watches flashlight and was greeted to the sight of 4 figures lying down on the ground. He walked carefully up to the first one and rolled them over and found Haibara asleep. He shook her gently and began to undo her bonds. He gestured over to the other three and the thief, who had finished the obstacle course shortly after him, nodded and untied the three kids in the matter of seconds. Conan frowned at him. "Will you teach me to do that someday?" "Nope!" the thief said cheerily. "Of course not." He said frowning at him. Then he looked back at Ai who was starting to stir next to him. She opened one eye at him and yawned. "About damn time."

6:20

The inspector and the head of the bomb squad were both staring at the building from outside. "Why can't we go in?" "It's a long story that involves trust and understanding. And a somewhat pompous detective." he said frowning. "Mmm. How long?" "Until they contact us or 10 minutes. We'll have four hours at that point." As he was talking his phone began to buzz in his pocket. "Speak of the devil." he said. "Megure." "Hey inspector. We've got the kids. But they were tied up and they can't really walk, or avoid that maze of tripwires back there. Can you get a ladder we're on the second floor facing the street." "On it. Which window?" he asked as he signalled for Shiratori and Chiba to come over. "One sec. Hey munchkin! Kick that window cover out! Don't call me munchkin. Well don't call me asshat and I'll consider it. Shut up children and just let the inspector know where we are. Yeah yeah give me a second." *Crash!* The inspector looked up and saw the window get blown out by a soccer ball and fall to the ground. He pointed to the window and instructed the two officers to get a ladder. "See you soon inspector." Said Kaito. And he hung up. "Those two…" the inspector sighed and shook his head.

6:32

The children had been rescued and were being taken to a hospital to get checked out. All four had immediately requested water once they had gotten out. Conan and Kaito had to hang around in order to give the police a rundown of the building and how many bombs they had seen. After 40 minutes of questioning they hopped in the professor's car and headed to the hospital to pick up Ai. The others parents had been notified of the kids rescue and had picked them up after they had been released by the doctors. After a brief 10 minute drive, they walked into the main area, where Ai was waiting.

She stood and walked past them without a word and Agasa quickly went to the desk to sign her out. The thief grinned and quickly put on one of his masks that had a frowny face on it and began to walk out after her mimicking the gait of a stuck up rich person. Ai whipped around and caught him, giving him her death glare. He quickly backed up several paces and took the mask off grinning sheepishly. She glared some more than stared at Conan for a moment before heading back out to the car. "Is she usually like this?" The thief whispered down. "Not sure. That actually seemed a little laid back. We'll see if she gets revenge on you later. That could be bad. Let me know in 24 hours if anything has changed." Agasa finished up at the counter and walked past a terrified Kaito who was trying not to fidget in fear.

Ai sat down in the back of the bug when the professor unlocked it and Conan glanced up at the thief. "Shotgun" he whispered, and grinned evilly, getting in the car leaving the poor famed magician outside staring at Haibara warily. When he opened the door she whipped her head to stare at him and he recoiled a few steps. She turned her head away and smirked. She would have to get him later. Kaito cautiously slid into the seat next to her and fastened his seatbelt. Agasa drove off, putting the hospital behind them. Conan sighed, knowing he would have to return in several hours for Ran. He looked out the window as the sky began to get lighter and the sun fully rose above the Tokyo skyline, letting people began going about their daily lives.

 _A/N: WARNING! All chapters after this are going to be considerably longer. I'm not sure specifically how much longer, but there will be no more in the 1,000 to 3,000 range. (Which is where every single one has been up to this point) Just letting you know! Hope You're Enjoying_

 _Until Next Time ~Nebilas_


	16. Chapter 15: A Short Reprieve

Chapter 15: A Short Reprieve

07:30

Conan yawned, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He gazed around the table bleary eyed, after all he had pulled an all-nighter. Frustratingly, Kaito seemed to be unaffected by the previous night. He was his usual much to happy self. Of course he was used to all nighters with all of his night heists. Conan graciously accepted the coffee the professor handed him and drank deeply. He sighed and cracked his neck trying to remove some of the stiffness he felt. He looked over at Haibara who looked less tired but was clearly not happy, based on her expression. She also took her coffee and drank for 5 seconds. After a few moments he looked away to look at the professor, who was back in the kitchen. He tried to drink again, only to find himself drinking air. He frowned into his cup, and went into the kitchen to get more.

Ai and the thief watched him go, before glancing at each other. Ai quickly looked away and began drinking her coffee again. The thief smirked and sidled over to her. "Tell me," he whispered. "How do you feel about Conan over there." "What are you even saying." she said refusing to look at him. The thief grinned. "I'm just wondering if the scary girl has a little… crush on Conan." Ai immediately flushed red and stared down into her coffee. The thief giggled excitedly. "Oh my this could be fun!" He said quietly. "So help me god.." Ai said rising up from her seat. "If you do anything, and I mean _anything_ to either set us up, embarrass me, or do anything to insinuate _that…"_ She leaned forward until she was next to his ear. "I will make you suffer." Kaito gulped. He was not usually intimidated by anyone, least of all little girls, but at this point he was beyond intimidated. He was terrified.

Ai smiled cheerily at him as a little girl would and skipped across the room before turning and giving him a death glare. 'That's creepy on so many levels' he thought to himself squirming in his seat. He consoled himself by drinking his coffee and telling himself she wasn't a normal little girl. Conan walked back to the table and sat down and looked at Haibara walking away. "What'd you do to make her angry?" "How'd you know?" the thief asked surprised. "She was skipping. She doesn't skip unless she wants to threaten the shit out of someone." Conan shuddered involuntarily. "It's very effective." "That it is." The thief replied. The two began to chat, trying to keep their minds away from the task that would be put before them in under four hours.

The thief looked at Conan. "Hey about scary girl…" Conan raised a brow at him. "I'm just wondering about her. You left some out, and quite frankly she doesn't show much emotion unless she wants to scare the shit out of someone." Conan pondered that for a moment, then replied, "I don't think it's that Kaito, it's more… she's afraid. When she was in the organization, she went through God knows what. She had to close herself off to everyone except those she trusted, and that was just one person. Her sister." he supplied seeing the thief's confused look. "Then she got shot and she closed herself off from the world. Now, four years later, she's finally beginning to trust again. Of course I may have just shattered that with our conversation on the roof. And then there was the incident two years ago…" "What happened two years ago?" The thief asked. Conan laughed darkly. "Nothing I'm allowed to tell you."

He sighed and leaned back looking at the ceiling. "If we can get away with it, once we die, zero people will know what happened." "Conan…" "Don't bother asking questions about it." "No no I was just going to ask… How are you doing?" "Why?" "Well considering everything that's happened you seem… Normal. Maybe even a little more cheerful than usual. I mean I don't see you much but.." He trailed off hoping the detective would provide answers.

The detective frowned at the table and considered. "I think.. I think my emotions are just more out than anything else. I'm not acting like myself for sure. But I think that's me just trying not to collapse. I'm focusing on my positive emotions more than anything else. At least until this evening." "You're going?" "Of course I am. She's still my oldest friend. I told her I'd be there until the end if she needed me. But you're right I've been putting it out of my head. I haven't let myself cry yet."

"Why not? It's a natural thing to do." The thief pointed out. "I'm afraid that if I cry, I'll completely break. I mean when's the last time you cried?" "That…" the thief said conjuring a dove onto his hand. "Is none of your business." "Of course not." Conan muttered. "You owe me a story by the way." "I know.. Just not yet. I need time." he sighed rubbing his doves head. The dove crooned happily. "Take all the time you need." the detective said. "Remember this one?" The thief said suddenly. Conan cocked his head, confused. "This is the one you helped heal." "Seriously?" Conan asked surprised. "Yep! I can't actually take him on heists if you're there. He refuses to help." "Now you're just making this stuff up." "Not at all. Doves are actually very smart. Are you smart? Yes you are!" he said the last bit in the way you'd talk to a baby.

Conan laughed sardonically and drank the last drop of coffee in his mug. He sighed and stretched, holding his arm over his head, trying to get it to pop. It did not and he released it, and rolled his shoulders before heading over to the sink and washing it out. He glanced up at the clock. 7:36. He blinked at it and turned back to the room. He walked back into the living room, where the professor had returned and announced, "I'm going to try and talk to Ai." The professor immediately responded with "Are you sure that's wise?" "Nope! But I'm doing it anyways." Kaito looked at him with a wary look. "Are you just telling us so that if we hear screams we'll come rescue you?" "Yep!" He looked at the two before him. The professor was pulling his mustache and Kaito appeared to be praying. "It's not gonna happen is it?" "No." The two replied simultaneously.

Conan rolled his eyes and glanced pulled out the phone in his right pocket. He tossed it to Kaito. "This is Shinichi's phone. Answer it as such." The thief caught it and nodded. Conan turned around and froze as the phone he had just handed over began to ring. He turned back around slowly. "What does it say about you… That you have detective Sato's number already on your phone?" "It means I have almost everybody's contact from the police department on my phone. Answer it." Kaito grinned. "Hey Sato! What's up?" His grin faded slightly. "A message?" Conan watched as Kaito's face became more serious. " _How_ gruesome?" A long pause. "Oh my… Uh.. Yeah. Sure I'll be there as soon as I can. What? Takagi is gonna pick us up? K thanks." Conan and the professor stared at the thief. "Conan, a message has been left for you. Or me. Takagi will be here in 5 minutes. Get ready." "What kind of message?" Conan asked. "The ugly kind." the thief replied.

7:44

Conan grinned as Takagi looked at him in the rearview mirror. Takagi wondered just why the kid had tagged with Kudo, and why Kudo had been so willing to accept it. Either way, this situation killed his theory about Conan being Kudo. "How far out are we?" asked the teenager. "About 2 minutes." "Have you seen it yet?" asked Conan. "No not yet. Can't say I'm looking forward to it. I heard enough." He paused trying to find a reason to make Conan stay in the car. "Conan this one might be a little extreme even for you." Conan frowned at him. "Takagi I stumbled upon a dismembered person in the woods in the pitch dark. I highly doubt that this could disturb me beyond that." Conan smirked as the detective failed to come back with a response.

"You found a disembodied body?" Kaito asked Conan. "Yeah there was an ax murderer trying to get revenge on a woman who drove his best friend to suicide." Kaito whistled. "Geez, no wonder you like Kid heists so much. He always makes sure nobody gets hurt." He turned around and smiled broadly (and smugly Conan noted) at him. 'Self promoting bastard' Conan thought, unimpressed with Kaito's boasting. "We're here." Takagi said, stopping outside of a house.

Conan gazed at the house. Besides the police tape and cars, it looked normal on the outside. Then again most murder scenes did. It's not like there was ever a big 'MURDER VICTIM INSIDE' sign out front. He scoffed to himself. That would make life much easier for him wouldn't it. He sighed and walked inside, bracing himself.

Conan paused in the entry as a police officer staggered past him, vomiting into a bag. Kaito and Conan looked at each other. Kaito made a face. Conan rolled his eyes at him and pushed on. As they walked down the hallway Conan noticed the design of the building. He had noticed when they walked in 3 separate hallways. They had turned right to the one on the far end. There were no stairs, and there were rooms on either side of each hall. He quickly counted as they turned left into the perpendicular hallway and found that there were 7 on each side. If that held there should be… 42 rooms. He shrugged. It probably wasn't important but it was a lot considering this was just a house.

Every room seemed to be open. Conan paused. Which one did he want to go in. Inspector Megure came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "I really recommend that you don't go in… But if you're insistent… You can just choose one of them." He shuddered and walked into the third one on the left.

Conan walked into the first room on the left. He glanced around. There was nothing here. He frowned. He shrugged. Maybe a fluke. He stepped through the door, and still nothing. He stepped out into the middle hallway and walked down four doors and entered the one on the right. To his horror, three people were already there. Three very dead and headless people. Conan recoiled a few steps and recovered forcing himself to stay in the room. He coughed and sniffed. They hadn't begun to decay yet. In fact they smelled like… "Preservative." he muttered to himself.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that their hands and feet were also missing, most likely to completely conceal their identity. Two were strung up from the ceiling, while the third was skewered to a wall via sword. Conan exited and crossed the hall and discovered 4, all hanging. He frowned and wondered why some were hanging and some skewered. As he entered more rooms, the number of skewered seemed disproportionately lower than those hanging. He entered another room to the right in the middle hallway. There he found an odd situation. A skewered body split in half. Why? Conan shook his head and stepped out into the hallway. He drew a sketch of the building. He would have to count the bodies as well. After 25 minutes he came up with this diagram.

Conan paused. The last one had been a simple answer, hiding in plain sight but his one should be different. But… He had an idea of what he had to do. He quickly scribbled down letters for each designated square, ignoring the bottom and right row. He glanced at his handiwork. He nodded at it.

 _A-4(1) C-1 E-5 G-2(1) I-3 K-2(1) M-1 O-9(1) Q-0 S-3 U-3 W-2(1) Y-1_

 _B-1 D-1(1) F-1 H-2 J-0 L-1 N-4(2) P-0 R-4 T-6 V-1(2) X-0 Z-0._

Conan grinned and began scribbling. He smelled an anagram.

8:23

"Takagi why the hell did you bring Conan?" "Well I don't know Kudo didn't complain and knowing Conan he probably would have found his way here anyway." Takagi defended himself to Megure. Megure sighed and adjusted his hat. Takagi was right of course. That kid was skilled at getting himself into places he had no business in being. He glanced around the room again. There was only 1 body in this room. However this body had been cut in half vertically and was skewered with two swords on opposite ends of the room. He walked over to the body again. He grimaced. "Any chance of identifying them?" He asked not expecting a positive answer. Takagi chuckled nervously. "Uh no. Any distinguishing marks have been removed and all hands and feet to remove any chance of using fingerprints. And of course their heads.." "Right." the inspector growled.

He left the room and took a deep breath. He stared at the ceiling and shook his head. This one was weird. So many questions revolved around it. Why so many bodies. Why a different number per room. Why the swords. Why the swords? Why the hanging ones? And how did it tie into the bombing case? "Inspector." queried a voice. Megure looked around and found Kudo beckoning. Megure sighed and walked forward, following him into the room. 'Four bodies' he thought to himself. They walked through the adjacent room as well. 'Nine' He shuddered. This was the worst room by far. They left and went all the way down the hall into the last room. Conan was in it, scribbling furiously. Megure looked around. No bodies. "What's up Kudo?"

Kaito snickered on the inside. 'Police are so quaint and adorable' he thought fighting a grin. He kept a straight face and looked at Megure. "How did you know this was a message? Lots of bodies great, but how did you know it was from the bomber." "Nobody told you?" the inspector asked surprised. Kaito shook his head. The inspector sighed. "Why do I always have to explain?" He grumbled. He shook his head and looked Kudo in the eye. "There was a note on the front door for when the owners got back this morning. They were out for a walk, I kid you not. A one hour walk early this morning. They come back to a knife stuck through a piece of paper." The inspector pulled out his phone and began to read off of the picture he took. "Here we go.. 'Dear owners of this establishment, do not enter this house unless you wish to be scarred. Call the police and instruct the 110 attendant to tell the police there are 57 bodies in this house. Also ask for inspector Megure, and say that their favorite poetic bomber has a message for the foolish detectives.'" Megure grimaced at the next part.

"For the bratty detectives who are sticking their noses into something that is completely out of their league, I am impressed that you managed to solve my first poem and save your friends. However I have an edge. And let me tell you why. You have failed 3 times in your career. All at our hands. 1) A certain bomb in a hotel. You know the one. Mistaken briefcases blah blah. 2) When we had all of Division One at our mercy. And 3 which is my favorite. Akemi Miyamo." Conan clenched his hand around his pen, not feeling the metal on it burrow into his hand. "You are going to fail. And depending on how you fail, you may die, amongst the thousands we are going to kill. Have fun on your goose chase." Conan began scribbling furiously again, his hand shaking slightly. Kaito glanced over at him. His eyes widened as he saw a tear fall from the child's face and onto the paper.

 _ **A/N: Hey guys it's Nebilas. It's currently 2AM where I'm at and I leave in two days for my trip abroad. There will be a three month hiatus after this chapter. Also I'm not sure if that diagram in the middle will upload. If it doesn't I wasted 10 minutes drawing it but the story should still be ok. Either way, hope you've enjoyed so far. Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **Until Next Time ~Nebilas**_


	17. Chapter 16

_**Hello! Hi! It's me! Nebilas! Surprise! So I know I said three month hiatus but guess what? One of the other volunteers here has a laptop so now I can post! And guess what else? I've already written up to Chapter 19, and I'm working on 20 right now. So I'm thinking once a week maybe? Every Monday? Sound good? I think so. Hope you enjoy!**_

 _ **Oh right there's another note at the bottom I recommend you read.**_

Chapter 16: Team America: World Police

8:27

Kaito was floored. Conan was crying. That… That was… It disturbed him. This guy never cried…. ever. The fact that he had broken down over this was… Odd to say the least. He would ask him later. "What do these mean?" He asked the inspector. "See that's what's so confusing." the inspector began "We would assume the hotel bomb is referring to when the Beika hotel was bombed for no apparent reason. This would make it seem deliberate, even though it was ruled an accident at the time. Two is from when a man disguised himself as the superintendent for a full week, had us all fooled and could probably have killed all of us at any given moment had he wanted. Three we have no idea who that is. But here's the thing. We would assume that this refers to Mouri because he was there for all of this but... " "But?" Kaito pressed.

The inspector beckoned Kaito out of the room. He glanced around quickly and leaned into Kaito's ear. "I think he's targeting Conan. I have no real proof of this but it would all fit with everything at least it would so far. Every case mentioned so far he was in the thick of it." Kaito was stunned. The police were actually on the right track this time. "That's genuinely reasonable." he replied to the inspector. "Anyone else and I would throw you in the looney bin but Conan…" Kaito looked up. "He's something else. The inspector seemed relieved to have his support and smiled tiredly. "Anyways, we're gonna have to solve this. Let's do it." "Shinichi." said a voice. They both turned and found Conan staring at them, any hint of him crying gone without a trace. Conan waved Kaito into the room. The inspector left and walked towards Takagi again.

Conan walked back into the room and headed for the far corner and slumped into it, sitting down, looking exhausted. "I solved it." Kaito whistled. "You are too good at this sir." Conan waved him off, leaning his head against the wall and looking off into nothing. "The solution is over there. I need to make a call." Kaito walked over and looked at the note. He read it and frowned. "This is stupid." "I agree. But that's the only one that makes any logical sense. We'll know if there's something out front won't we. Go check." Kaito shrugged and walked out. Conan quickly pulled out his phone and dialed the professor. They needed to get out of the house. He pulled out the second part of the message. The sword message. He looked at it again, realizing his life would never be the same until he brought the Organization down. There was no doubting its meaning.

' _G and V know'._

8:33

Ai sighed as she heard the phone ring again. 'The professor must be in the shower.' She thought. She reluctantly stood up and strolled over to it, hoping it would stop ringing. It didn't and she sighed, resigned to her fate. "Agasa residence." She said in a fake cheerful voice. "Ai, you need to get out. Grab the professor, pack a suitcase quickly, and leave." "Woah woah, Kudo calm down." Ai said reeling a bit from his outburst. "What could be so bad?" Then he said two words that changed her entire attitude. "Gin knows."

Ai froze. She felt her entire body collapsing. He actually knew. He was coming. She began to shiver uncontrollably. She was vaguely aware of Kudo still talking but she heard none of it. She couldn't move. He was finally coming to kill her. "AI." She snapped out of her daze. "We're going to get through this. Go. Now." "Got it." she whispered, and hung up. She sprinted up the stairs and informed the professor, and then turned to her room and walked in. Once she was sure the professor was distracted, she moved the hidden panel under her bed and moved her hand around. Her hand grazed the desired object and she wrapped her hand around it, closing her eyes. She slowly pulled it out and opened her eyes. Her old handgun. She hadn't ever used it, but here it was in her hands. She had only picked it up one other time. She frowned pushing that thought out of her head, before concealing it in the back of her jeans, and under her sweater.

She paused as she felt it against her back. She had mixed feelings about it. Kudo thought she'd gotten rid of it. She had sworn up and down that she had. It was so hard to lie to him but she thought she'd pulled it off. She began to pack. She hoped she'd have the nerve to pull the trigger when the time came. She flinched again, thinking back to two years prior, when the same thought had flashed through her head. Unbeknownst to her, Conan was thinking about the exact same thing.

8:34

"Inspector!" Kaito exclaimed. "It's solved." The inspector leapt to his feet. "What does it say Kudo?" Everyone quickly gathered. Kaito began. " _2 things. I was wrong about the time you have. Also look under the rock out front."_ He looked around. "That was…" the inspector murmured. "Underwhelming I agree" Kaito said quickly. "But let's go look under that rock!" Everyone quickly went outside and tried to decide which rock it was. Kaito sighed and watched. Various police officers began to check under various rocks. After a few moments, one officer yelled out. "This one!" Everyone made a beeline for the rock mentioned and gathered around.

"What's it say?" The inspector asked. "It's another poem sir." replied an officer. "Read it." the inspector instructed. The officer began.

 _Before we all jump to conclusions_

 _let me make one thing clear_

 _Not only is this for our enjoyment,_

 _We want you to live in fear_

 _The location of the next bomb is in this poem_

 _But in order to find it you may have to roam._

 _So here is your riddle_

 _and let it be said_

 _I would much rather_

 _Just shoot you till dead_

 _But orders I follow_

 _and follow I shall_

 _Until I destroy every person_

 _Who has no Morale_

 _But here is your poem_

 _I have stalled for too long_

 _At this point_

 _I might as well burst into song_

 _There once was a magician in white._

 _Who believed he could fly as high as a kite._

 _We shot him down from the roof as he flew._

 _And nobody loving him or missing him knew._

 _Now another magician has poked in his head_

 _And is practically trying to make himself dead_

 _So now I have a question that I need to ask_

 _Is it too much to ask if you can complete this task?_

 _Now My magician._

 _You know where you met and you know when as well._

 _Now inform them or not this is not a hard sell,_

 _these lives are on you if you don't ever tell._

 _Because it is far past time the white magician fell._

 _Now one last thing before I go._

 _I do not plan on making this easy oh no._

 _Here are some rules that will go into your new status quo_

 _Or innocent lives will be lost oh woe._

 _Evacuate-boom_

 _Barricade-boom_

 _media-boom_

 _and CIA-boom_

 _These rules are not hard and are actually quite few._

 _I have given you a gift don't waste it! Adieu._

"Jesus." the inspector sighed and looked up at the sky. "Circulate it to our code breakers." Take a picture of it too. Put it in the group chat so most people have it. Why the hell do we need Kaito Kid's help on this. I don't want division 2 to hear of this if possible." He said the last part loudly. "Yes inspector." Kaito raised his hand. "I'll send you one too Kudo don't worry." the inspector laughed. Kaito laughed and turned around to find Conan walking out of the house slowly. "New poem." Kaito said cheerfully. Conan stared up at him and nodded slowly before walking past him and looking at the rock before heading to Takagi's car and sitting on it. Kaito frowned and followed him. "What's up?" Conan waved him off and said "I'll tell you later." "Well at least this poem isn't about you. It's about me." He whispered lowered his voice. Conan snapped his head around to look at him. "Do they know it's you?" "They must. Otherwise there's no point in them saying that in the poem.

Conan nodded as Takagi came over. "Ready to go guys?" "Yeah can you take us to the Beika hotel Takagi?" Conan asked. "Wha.. Uh sure. Why not?" Kaito stared at Conan, very confused. He leaned down to him. "Why not the professors'" "Later." Conan whispered back. They got in the car and drove off.

8:50

Kaito looked out the car window. He was riding shotgun to Takagi's left, with Conan in the back. He was watching the buildings go past, before he switched to watching the cars on the other side of the street. He glanced back at the detective in the back seat who looked fatigued. 'Fatigued, not tired.' Kaito noted. The detective simply looked… Done. Ever since he had decoded the anagram, he hadn't been the same. Kaito had a feeling he was holding something back. And why the change of location? It seemed so random from him. And who was Akemi Miyamo? How could the mere mention of her make him cry?

He shook his head. They were almost to the hotel. They pulled up to it. "Thanks Takagi." Conan said and slid out. Kaito waved at him and Takagi drove off.

"Alright munchkin. Why the change of locale?" Kaito asked. Conan exhaled and handed him the ripped off part of anagram, before walking towards the front door. Kaito followed and read the line inscribed there. "What's G and V?" He asked. "Gin and Vodka." Conan whispered. Kaito frowned. "So we're changing locations because of alcohol?" "No you idiot." He glanced around. "It's the two that changed me.

Kaito paused. "Ahhhhhh." That made much more sense. "Wait they know? How? How do you know?" "I'm just going off the word of Vermouth which usually I take with skepticism but at this point it's all I've got." Conan said resignedly. They entered the hotel.

"So we're staying here." the thief said glancing around. He shrugged. "Not bad." Conan rolled his eyes and sat down on a chair and waited. Almost immediately his phone rang. He jumped a bit and answered. "Professor hey. What's your ETA?" "Shinichi we've got a problem." Conan's blood ran cold. "What is it?" "I think we have a tail." Conan sat down and put his head in his left hand while his right held the phone.

"Ok. Uh… Look I'm gonna leave now and try to meet you where-?" "NO." Ai snarled into the phone. Conan frowned at the quick change of voice. She had clearly taken the phone. "What do you mean no?" Conan hissed. "You're being tailed by probably the BO and you don't want help?" "Wait one second." Conan was furious at this point. Just when he was about to pull up the locators on his glasses Ai talked again.

"Conan? Someone wants to talk to you." Now Conan was confused. He heard the phone exchange hands and then… "COOL KID!" Conan ripped the phone away from his ear and stared at it in disbelief. "J-Jodie-Sensei?" "Hiiiiii." She responded gleefully. Conan exhaled in relief. "You were the tail?"

"Yes indeed! We saw the professor's car and started following. Sorry if we scared you." Conan laughed shakily. "Great… Uh are you gonna keep following them?" "Probably!" She said enthusiastically. Conan could feel her smile from the other side of the phone. He smiled in spite of himself. "Awesome. They know where to go. Can I talk to Haibara really quick?" "Sure thing see you soon!"

"Kudo why is she so damn cheerful?" Ai snarled into the phone. "I genuinely have no idea." Conan said holding back a laugh. "Just come to the hotel. We'll see you soon." Ai hung up and Conan followed suit, putting his phone in his pocket. Kaito looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Conan grinned. "We just got backup."

9:06

Ai stepped out of the yellow slug bug and walked to the back. She stepped back as she opened it and snagged her bag. As she pulled she could feel the cold metal of the gun brush against her back. She quickly pulled her bag out and readjusted the gun so that it would remain unseen. The professor hopped out as well and walked to the back, grabbing his bag and waving at the black car that had been following them. Jodie waved back and drove off, searching for a parking spot.

Ai glowered at the car as it drove past. Stupid happy FBI/CIA American. She sighed and started to walk towards the stairs. As she walked she held her bag in her left hand, leaving her shooting hand free. She flexed it back and forth. As she got to the stairs she looked back over her shoulder. The professor walked into view chatting amiably with Jodie and Camel. She frowned at them. Jodie, blonde and confident, spectacles, a smile playing across her face. And Camel, a man who, to most people, loomed over most others. To Ai, he was just tall. She had met people who had truly loomed over her. Gin was one. Vermouth. The Boss. She shuddered at the thought of the last one. She had never seen The Boss face to face. He had spoken to her once over the phone. That had been enough. The sheer will and control he had exuded through the phone was more than she had ever needed. 'What about Kudo?' a voice asked her.

This threw her for a loop. She noticed the adults were drawing near and she resumed walking. The thought would not leave her head however. She eventually gave in and entered a conversation with herself, humoring the voice.

'What about him?'

'Oh come now we both know he _looms_ as you put it.'

'He does not. He looks like a kid.'

'That's not what I mean and you know it. You've fallen for him for a reason you know. And cute as he is we both know you are hooked on his intelligence. Not to mention the…. Incident. His intelligence looms over most. And you've always liked challenges.' Ai cringed. The problem with talking to herself in her head was that she couldn't actually interrupt the voice talking back to her. It was a thought. It just ran its course regardless of potential damage. Ai shook her head. She shoved the thoughts out of her head and paused as she reached the lobby.

She looked through the door and saw Kaito and Conan deep in conversation. She pushed her way through the door and began making her way towards them. As she watched she saw Conan nod, then Kaito leaned forwards for another question. Conan rolled his eyes and responded and Kaito leaned back, seemingly satisfied with his answer. Ai walked over to them and muttered a brief "Hello." before sitting down and staring at nothing. Conan smiled back while Kaito suddenly looked like he would rather be far far away from the hotel. Ai smirked internally.

The lobby doors soon opened again and the three adults walked through with various bags of luggage. Conan waved and they walked over, putting the bags down. "Hey cool kid!" grinned Jodie. Conan grinned back. He had never been so happy to see anyone from the FBI before. "I'm going to get a room." The professor announced. "I'll do it too." Camel stated. The two men walked off to the front desk. Jodie stared at Ai, Conan, and Kaito in turn. She saw the looks on all of their faces. She grimaced. They had a lot to talk about.

 _ **IMPORTANT NOTE: For those of you still waiting for CxA it's coming I promise. Have patience. I've actually written a few possible scenarios but I'm not sure when I'll employ one. You'll know.**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 _ **~Nebilas~**_


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Rivalry Renewed

09:32

"... and we have a vague amount of time before the Hiassen hotel gets blown up." Kaito concluded. Conan and Kaito had alternated telling the story. They had gotten up to their hotel rooms and explained as best as they could the situation they found themselves in. "Ok…" Camel murmured. "I think I follow for the most part, but you lost me at the very end. Why the Hiassen hotel?" "It's where I ran into the Black Organization for the first time." Kaito blurted. His eyes widened in horror. Conan laughed. "He means Kaito Kid. Sometimes when he's thinking he puts himself into other people's thought process. And he's done a lot of research on kid. Right?" Conan smiled up at him. Kaito laughed as normally as he could. "Right!".

Jodie and Camel stared at Kaito for a moment before grinning and brushing it off before turning back. "Fair enough. Do the police know?" "That's the problem." Conan sighed. "We tried to tell them, but Megure wants to be completely sure. The bomber made it clear that if they could tell the police were doing anything, they would detonate the explosives. We need Kaito Kid to make an appearance. Otherwise we're screwed." Jodie and Camel frowned. "How will he find out about the poems?" Kaito laughed. "Knowing him he probably already knows and is figuring out how to tell the police without getting himself arrested." Conan nodded in assent, wishing he could roll his eyes at the thief. Jodie's phone buzzed and she moved away to take the call. Conan got an idea and pulled out his phone. He quickly sent a text.

Kaito looked down at his phone. His lip twitched and he entered a response.

K: I will not do that.

C: How do you propose you do it then?

K: I'll just send a note.

C: Mmmm...

C: It might not work.

K: It has to work. I'm sure as hell not going to "Stand on Megure's desk and announce that it's the Hiassen Hotel."

Conan laughed and put down his phone. "Anyways Jodie, why are you here still? I thought you went back to America a while ago. "I did. But now I'm back." She smiled. "Tell me Cool Kid do you have any idea who's behind this?" Conan grimaced. "It's them." Jodie's smile vanished without a trace. "Who knows it's them?" Everyone in this room, the professor and I'm going to call Subaru soon." Jodie balked. "You're calling in Shu?" Conan nodded. "This is it Jodie. This is our shot." He looked at the ceiling. "They've declared war." He looked back down and stared Jodie and Camel in the eye. "And I intend to destroy them." As an afterthought he pulled out his phone and sent another text to Kaito. Kaito read it and his eyes lit up. He shot a grin at Conan. Conan grinned back. Today might have some fun in it after all.

10:03

Megure sat at his desk, staring at his phone, hoping it would ring. Pretty soon, he would have to heed Kudo and Conan's advice. Any other situation he would have done so already, but he couldn't afford to. One mistake and… He shook his head. 'I can't think like that.' "Inspector." somebody said. He looked up. "Yes Takagi?" Takagi shifted awkwardly. "I figured I might as well warn you. Division Two heard. The bloodhounds are on their way." Megure gritted his teeth. "Is… _He_ here?" Takagi meekly nodded before taking a stance behind the inspector. "Thanks Takagi."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the door to the room flew open with a resounding *Crash*. The man who led the charge stalked across the room, followed by a pack of bloodthirsty wolves. Megure took a deep breath. "So…" began the man across from him. "Inspector Nakamori I assure you I was going to inform you of the sit-" "HA!" Nakamori exclaimed. "Not likely. Now really quickly… Explain to me… Why we… The Kaito Kid team were not informed…" He leaned across the desk to get closer to Megure's face. "THE INSTANT YOU REALIZED HE WAS INVOLVED?" Megure sighed. "Because he has yet to commit a crime today and the lives of innocents are more important. Also we need him in order to get information."

"Information on what?" Nakamori asked dangerously. "He knows where the bomb is. The bombers challenged him directly." Nakamori twitched. "Fine. Fine. So you're just waiting for him to…" "Megure shrugged despondently. "For him to tell us where the bomb is." "Ask and ye shall receive inspector." came a voice. Immediately every person in the Kid brigade was on megalert, ready to leap at a moments notice, looking in corners, under desks and up at the ceiling. Then, incredulously, Kaito Kid did something he almost never did. He casually strolled through the door. No magic, no anything. Full outfit, monocle and all. He waved at the police officers in the room. "Hiya!" he said cheerfully.

"Nakamori before you jump me can I tell the inspector about the location of the bombs?" Nakamori growled at him. "Lovely! Now. Inspector who's actually good at his job, the location of the bombs. Hiassen Hotel. Most likely this is 'step one' as per the main poem. So. Search those vents." He grinned. "Oh." He said as an afterthought. He snapped his fingers and suddenly everyone from division two was ensnared in various traps of either rope, handcuffs and in Nakamori's case, an extremely tight glittery pink tutu. Kaito grinned and took a picture before turning around to leave. "Wait! Kid!" Megure exclaimed. Kaito paused. "How did you find out?" Kaito grinned. "I keep tabs on my favorite people. When I found out that my favorite detective was wrapped up in a bombing case well… I just couldn't keep away could I?" And with that he swept out of the room, leaving a very angry Division Two in his wake. "KID!" Nakamori yelled, as he tried to lunge forward, resulting in him falling flat on his face. Megure reclined in his chair for a moment before glancing up at Takagi, who was currently taking pictures of Nakamori and company. "Takagi, start untying them." Then he grabbed his phone. Time to take action.

11:30

Conan, Kaito, Jodie, Megure, and Takagi gazed at the Hiassen hotel from across the street. They had grabbed a room on the 3rd floor, watching the hotel in trepidation. Megure had sent in 30 officers over the span of a half an hour, all disguised so as not to alert anyone. All officers were to split up and search the 35 floor building, specifically in the ventilation systems. So far they had uncovered nothing. That did not bode well for them. "Where the hell could they be?" grumbled the inspector.

Conan was just as confused. Everything pointed to this hotel. So why would there be no bombs? A thought crossed his mind. "Inspector… What was the line about this step exactly?" The inspector checked. "Uhm… _one will be found in a hidden duct._ " Then it hit him. "Hidden duct?" "And just one." Conan added. The inspector looked at him. "We need blueprints." Conan and Kaito concluded.

11:43

"Here you are inspector." said the manager of the hotel. He handed them the blueprints across the counter. The inspector thanked him profusely and turned around. He began to think. 'Why is the bomber doing this? Why Kaito Kid? Why Conan? Why Ran? How? Nobody could set that house set up by themselves.' Megure sighed and crossed the street. These things always seemed to tell their own stories as time went on.

Meanwhile up in the room, Conan and Kaito were quietly talking. "We need emergency scenario plans." "I agree." Kaito replied. "If I get caught in a blast, you come save me." Conan rolled his eyes. "I meant more specific than that. Like what would we do if the organization gets one of us. Or what if I somehow turn back into my actual body. What do we do?" "For the first I would want you to save the people targeted first. Then come get me." Kaito grinned. "Same here." Conan agreed. "I vote if one of us is taken, the other immediately hides Ai and the professor." Kaito nodded in assent. "If you get to your original form-" "That's not actually going to happen." Conan interrupted. "I had Ai stop working on it." "Just in case then." Kaito grinned. "It'd be hard to explain two Shinichi's walking around." He pondered. "ooh! I'll do Hakuba! He's always fun to be." Conan rolled his eyes but just then Megure walked in the room.

He held up the blueprints for all to see. "Oh thank god." Takagi exhaled. "This should give us some answers." the inspector proclaimed before laying out the plans on the table. He frowned. Jodie came up behind him. She began tracing the air ventilation system with her finger. "So it merges here." Indeed it did. The main ventilation system filtrated from the basement and up into the hotel. Megure nodded. He traced his way around until he found a door that led to that section of the hotel. He tapped it twice before calling it in.

"Units be advised, bomb may be in the basement. Units 14 and 23 go down to electrical room." "Affirmative Inspector. En route." A few minutes of silence. "Inspector this is Unit 23. 14 is here as well. We're about to head down. Shall we proceed?" "Proceed. All other units exit the hotel over the course of about five minutes. Use various exits, make sure no more than 2 go through an exit at a time. Contact me when you're out."

"Takagi keep a list-" "Already on it inspector." Conan interrupted. He grinned and showed the inspector his notebook, (which after the last two days, he was down to 3 pages.) "Unit 1 and 3 clear." Conan scribbled quickly. This process repeated for about 5 minutes, until just 3 had not reported. The two in the basement and Unit 10. The inspector was listening intently. Suddenly the radio crackled back to life. "Unit 14 here inspector. We found it… But…" "But what?" asked the inspector. "Well I could be wrong but it appears to be built into the building foundation. There's also a smaller one built into the electrical system." "Into the foundation?" Jodie exclaimed. "Affirmative. I don't understand it myself. This building was built in '95. It's almost like…" "Someone planned this." Conan whispered. Everyone turned to look at him.

He looked up at them. "A plan eleven years in the making. Built into the foundation from the beginning. Into the electricity from the beginning." Takagi continued. "Hard-Wired to blow ever since it was created. But how?" "And more importantly how do we disarm it?" The inspector asked. He was greeted with silence on the other side of the radio. "Unit 14 respond." Silence. "Unit 23! Respond!" Nothing. "Units 14 and 23 respond! Now!" After a few more seconds of silence the radio suddenly blared to life and the situation became much more drastic.

"SHOTS FIRED OFFICER DOWN! I REPEAT OFFICER IS DOWN I NEED BACKUP NOW!" Two distant gunshots were heard and the call shut off. "Units 5-7 get down into the basement!" the inspector yelled into the radio. "Units 8 and 9 defend the door in case they break through. Everyone else pick an entrance and watch it. Anybody that leaves I want a picture. GO!" Then just as it seemed things couldn't get worse, a car parked on the street exploded. The explosion sent everyone on the street into a state of chaos. Some staggered away while some lay ominously still. "Get an ambulance here!" the inspector roared at Takagi. Takagi quickly pulled out his phone and dialed 110. The inspector whipped around to tell everyone to stay right where they were but Jodie, Conan and Kaito were gone.

Conan leapt down the last five stairs and burst onto the street, Kaito and Jodie right behind him. He noticed a person with a broken leg staggering away from the explosion. He watched as they crawled to the sidewalk, next to another car where they sat up, gritting their teeth in pain. As Conan watched he noticed something else. The car the man was sitting next to had something under it. Conan zoomed in on his glasses. His eyes widened but before he could even shout a warning the car detonated and sent the street into a higher state of chaos.

Kaito and Jodie started attempting to direct people, both having a lot of experience in that regard. Conan could only watch helplessly. Then he heard the revving of an engine. To his shock, an 18 wheeler drove out of an alley and proceeded to drive directly through the front door of the hotel. Time seemed to stand still as it came to a halt, about two thirds of the way in. Conan noticed a man in a gray outfit sprinting away from the scene. Then the truck exploded. Conan watched as people attempted to get out of the hotel lobby. The first three floors were decimated. He watched as a person on fire fell from the third floor and onto the street below. He saw the person in gray again, still running. Conan promptly took off after him, snagging a nearby bicycle and hopping on prepared to track him down.

He got about 20 feet before he was ripped off of the bicycle. Assuming it was Megure and Takagi he fell limp in defeat. "Oh come now detective I expected a little more of a fight than this." Conan's eyes went wide and he whipped his head around. "Long time no see." Gin grinned. "Miss me?" He began to carry Conan down the alley the truck had driven out of. Conan immediately began to thrash trying to escape. Gin tsked at him. *tsk tsk tsk*. "Pitiful really." He pulled out a syringe. Upon seeing it Conan panicked and began to thrash even more. "Ahhhh you can sense it can't you?" Gin grinned. "You know what this is." Gin waved it in his face.

"This… Is the poison. Again." Gin looked thoughtful. "I wonder what will happen if you survive this time. It's much more likely you'll just die though." And with that being said, he plunged the syringe into the detective's arm. Conan tried to scream as he felt the poison being pushed into his bloodstream, but Gin's hand still covered his mouth. "Fun fact." Gin grinned. "If you survive, I'm supposed to take you to the boss. And I will. But first, I'm going to find Sherry. And do you know what I'm going to do?" He leaned into Conan's ear and whispered. "I'm going to inject her with the poison. And then if she survives… Do you know what I'll do?" Gin seemed to relish the pause in between. "I'm going to rape her." Conan stopped struggling. He felt the poison coursing through his bloodstream, and the first convulsions were starting. Gin dropped him, then crouched down to his level. "And I'm going to make you watch. I'm not sure if she'll survive this time though." He laughed cruelly.

"The only reason she pulled through last time was because her sister was there for her. I knocked her out of the picture as you well know so who will be there for her this time? Not you." he smiled down at the detective who had begun to thrash around. He picked up Conan again and held him up to his eyes. Conan's eyes were struggling to focus. Gin grinned at him. "She hates herself you know. She thinks she's worth nothing to the world. Me raping her only intensified that. She thinks she's repulsive. Who could ever want something touched by me? Ah well… Shall we?" Gin gestured towards his car. Suddenly Conan screamed.

Gin dropped him in surprise and watched in fascination as the child before him began to grow in size. Slowly. He grinned at the wracking spasms the boy was having. Gin looked at his watch. 45 seconds since injection. It took another 3 minutes for the boy to finish growing. He let out one last scream and shuddered once more before he lay still. Gin stopped his timer. 3 minutes and 43 seconds. He smiled. He bent over to take the detectives pulse. Gin whistled. "You really are something detective." He pulled him up by his hair and grinned as the detective slowly came back to his senses. "Welcome back Kudo Shinichi." Then he smashed his fist into the detectives temple.

11:40

Jodie was still reeling from the explosions. She had seen death and bloodshed before but this was cool and calculated. She could still see Kudo from here but she had no idea where Cool Kid had gone. She pondered. She had seen him hop on a bike before he vanished so he could have been anywhere. She sighed and phoned it in to her boss. She also needed to call Shu. But before she did she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Or someone. A someone that had long blonde hair and a familiar face. _Her_. Jodie immediately took off. Vermouth smirked and walked into the parking garage.

Jodie sprinted in and found her leaning against a car. "Miss me Jodie-sensei?" Vermouth asked, a small smirk playing across her face. "Where is he?" Jodie snarled. "Who?" Vermouth asked, being aloof. "Edogawa! Cool Kid!" Vermouth whipped her head around suddenly serious. "You lost silver bullet?" Jodie was taken aback. "Silver Bullet?" Vermouth strode towards her and grabbed her shoulders. "You lost the _one person_ who has the best shot of taking down the organization? You complete moron." She let go of Jodie's shoulders and looked up. "Fine. I'll find him." She walked around to her car uncontested by Jodie, who knew she couldn't do anything to stop her. "I hope you die." Jodie snarled at her. "Yes dear I know." Vermouth rolled her eyes. She backed out of her spot and paused when she was even with Jodie. Then she smirked. "Tell Shu I said hi." And with that she pulled a Jodie mask over her head and took off, leaving Jodie speechless.

 _ **A/N: Hey guys! So guess what? I have to rewrite chapters 19 and 20! (I am now dead on the inside) Those two chapters are now completely useless to me, based on the wonderful event that I had to change something in 18 because I hated the way it turned out. Almost 6,000 words completely wasted... That's like three high school essays. (Sigh) Of course I liked it when I first wrote it but then… Yay. Well done me. Regardless. Thank you LightDrksoul for helping me with that part. I know I thanked you in the PM but still you get your credit where it's due.**_

 _ **Rest of you guys please do leave comments it helps me out if I get constructive criticism or ideas. So please let me know if you want to see anything that I have not implemented yet.**_

 _ **Also one last thing. CxA got delayed more because of how I edited Chapter 18. I'm sorry. Please bare with me.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading!**_

 _ **Until Next Time! ~Nebilas~**_


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Breach

12:13

"Gone?" Hattori asked dangerously. "Whaddya mean gone? Gone where?" "He's vanished." replied Jodie. "Ok but he does that a lot. Why is this such a big deal." "Because it's them." Hattori froze. 'That explains a lot.' "I'm coming now. I'll meet ya at the professor's as soon as I can." "Wait Hattori we're at Beika Hotel. We had to relocate." Suddenly another voice chimed in. "Let me talk to him. Hattori?" "Uh… Kudo? So ya haven't disappeared ya just look like yer old self?"

"No. Hattori this is Kaito Kid." He whispered the last part. "Kudo and I made a truce for the period that we're under attack. Now look, I'm disguised as Kudo for the moment. Now I know that Conan disappearing is normal for him, except this time he disappeared right during the attack. Even more troublesome is that someone within the organization told him that Gin and Vodka knew about his identity. So yes. Get here ASAP. I will keep you updated." And with that Kaito hung up, leaving a baffled Hattori gaping at his phone. He shut his mouth and started packing quickly. He had a train to catch.

12:17

Shinichi stirred. His head was killing him. He groaned and rubbed his head. He glanced around and found himself face to face with the barrel of a gun. He moved back quickly. "Hey there Kudo. It's been a long three years." Vodka stared him down. Shinichi started to laugh. He couldn't help it. All of the times he had almost been found out by them, while somehow eluding death was so many. He regained control of himself quickly and looked Vodka in the sunglasses. "For you maybe. You've almost found me several times. Tokyo Tower when I shot down your helicopter. How about the bus station with the CD. Gin almost found me when he opened that final locker. I was in it. Imagine how much trouble you could have avoided if only he had opened it all the way."

"But instead here I am." He looked at his surroundings. "Waiting to meet the boss. In a warehouse apparently. Oh wait this is the one where you shot Akemi wasn't it? Cool. At least I know where I am." He glanced at Vodka again. "You suck at your job." he laughed. "Fortunately I'm supervising." came a cold voice. "Hi Gin. Guess what? You were right. An adult couldn't have fit in that locker." Gin kicked him in the stomach. Shinichi kept laughing. "Bro why is he laughing?" Vodka asked. "Because he knows you won't kill him." Came a third voice.

"Vermouth." Gin stated quietly. "You got here quickly." "Well I just had to know, how did you reach the conclusion that a small child was actually Kudo Shinichi the teenaged detective you killed 3 years ago." She crossed her arms and stared at Gin. "Technically I'm 20 now." Shinichi grinned. This earned him a kick to the jaw from Vodka, quickly followed by a kick to the chest. Gin followed up with another one to the gut. Shinichi coughed, then spit out some blood. He grinned a bloody smile before lying all the way down.

"I wasn't convinced myself at first." Gin addressed Vermouth. "But I began to research, and I watched him solve a case in about 15 minutes. At that point I called Vodka to confirm what I suspected. When he confirmed it I proceeded to pay a visit to the detective agency, which you know. What you don't know, nor does he, is that I raped the girl I found there." Shinichi immediately lost his sense of humor. His eyes filled with rage as Gin stood over him leering. "How does it feel detective? Knowing that I fucked the two most important women in your life. You should actually be thanking me." He took a step away and turned back to Vermouth. "Now that I've killed your childhood sweetheart you don't have to deal with the messy aftermath of trying to put her soul back together."

With a snarl Shinichi leapt to his feet only to be faced with three different guns pointed at him. "Give me an excuse." Gin whispered. "Please." He smiled viciously, victoriously, as Shinichi slowly sat down, hate still swimming in his eyes. Gin smirked and put his gun away. "Very wise detective. Very wise indeed." Vermouth put hers away as well while Vodka kept his out just in case. "Gin you deserve to die." Vermouth said with a disgusted look on her face. "You had no reason to rape that girl." "Wrong I had every reason. It was fun, first of all and also when I was done she was completely broken. I relish that look Vermouth." He grinned at her. "You should know that by now.

"All too well." she growled. "What has the boss said." "We informed him but he has yet to respond." Vodka replied. "Hmph." She strode over to the detective on the ground. "Don't die yet kiddo. We have plans for you yet." She smirked and walked away to her car, ignoring the two men, and drove off. Gin loomed over Shinichi with a grin. "Now where were we?" He asked hypothetically. "Oh yes I remember." And he kicked him in the ribs.

12:31

Ai was not doing well. Upon hearing that Kudo had gone missing, she immediately attempted to call him. After her fifth call, she politely asked the professor to give her some space. The professor practically sprinted out of the room. She sat on the bed and put her head in her hands. This was not good. 'Ok Ai calm down.' she instructed herself. 'Best case he dropped his phone while chasing someone. Worst case…' Ai refused to finish that thought. She couldn't even let herself entertain it as a possibility. 'If he's dead...'

Before she could finish the thought her phone rang. She sighed and picked it up. 'Kudo Shinichi' She answered. "What do you want Kaito?" "Well you clearly already know. I called Hattori he's coming from Osaka. You ok?" Ai didn't bother to respond, and she hung up. She sighed and laid down on the bed, her legs dangling over the edge. She stared at the ceiling and stared at it, not really seeing it. It didn't help that Kaito was around either. With him looking so much like Kudo naturally… It was uncanny and not okay. She sighed and rolled onto her stomach and stared at the wall. 'You love him.' The familiar voice told her. "I know I do." She murmured. 'I came to grips with that a long time ago.'

'Despite what you promised after Gin. How do you know he won't cast you aside just like everyone else? Your parents, your fellow scientists, even your sister for a time. Why not him?'

'He'd never do that.' Ai told herself.

'Then tell him the truth. About your past. About Gin. All of it.'

'I will!' she thought defiantly.

Her phone began to ring from next to her. She picked it up and stared. 'Conan Edogawa' it told her. She quickly answered it. "Kudo! Why haven't you been answering." "Haibara Ai…" a cold voice answered. "A rather weak name don't you think. It suits you, weak as you are." "Gin what have you done to him?" Ai hissed. She paused after that. She usually froze at the mere mention of him. He laughed menacingly. "Nothing too serious. Yet." Ai was snapped out of her thoughts. "Gin let him go." "No can do. I have to take him to you know who." Ai's eyes went wide. Nobody ever came back from meeting the boss.

"Gin you can't! Take me instead! Please I'll do anything…" She forced out. She could practically hear his sadistic grin over the phone. " _Anything?_ Well as it turns out Sherry I have just the idea. Something is being delivered to your door right now. When they get there they will leave. I'm going to hang up. Call me when you have the package." *click* "No!" She exclaimed. She thought about just dialing back but didn't want Kudo to face Gin's wrath if she called for no reason.

She began to pace the room waiting for somebody to knock. After a few minutes that felt like hours to her, a knock came. Just one. *thud* She immediately sprinted to the door but paused before opening it. It could be a trap. She threw caution to the wind and ripped the door open. Before her was a small package. She grabbed it and retreated back into the room. Once she got back to the bed she cautiously opened it. Inside was a syringe. She swallowed nervously and called Gin.

"I have it." She said shakily once he picked up. "Good. Now pick it up." "Wait. I want proof he's alive first." She quickly demanded. "Oh very well." Suddenly her phone buzzed and informed her that Conan wanted to face time. She answered it and was greeted with a shot of Vodka standing over… a full grown Kudo? "Kudo-kun?" She asked astonished. "Ai?" He whipped his head up. "Ai don't do it the syringe is filled wi-" He was silenced with a kick to the ribs, driving the air from his lungs. "Stop it!" She yelled. Gin laughed.

"Syringe Sherry. Pick it up. Or the detective gets shot in the leg." Vodka grinned and pulled out his gun, ready to shoot if asked to. "Actually first. Set up the camera so we can see you do it." Ai shivered and complied, setting it up against a pillow so it would remain up. She slowly picked up the syringe and held it up for the camera. She looked at the video playing and stared straight at Kudo lying on the ground. He was still shaking his head and yelling but she couldn't hear anything. Gin had probably muted the call. She tried to relax and found a vein in her left forearm. She stuck the syringe in and closed her eyes, sending a quick prayer up to her sister, and depressed it.

She slowly pulled it out and looked back at the camera. Gin unmuted the call, and Vodka disappeared behind the screen presumably to watch. "Now Sherry, based on the time it took him to change, we should find out if you'll die in about 3 minutes and 43 seconds." "You mean this was-" She couldn't finish as her chest suddenly felt like it would explode. "Afraid so Sherry. Surprise! You're going back to your original form. I hope you have some adult sized clothes nearby because-" Gin suddenly stopped talking and AI heard Vodka mutter something. Then the call cut out. "No!" she said leaping for the phone. Before she wrapped her hand around it her arm spasmed. She hissed in pain, struggling to focus. She reached back behind her and grabbed a pillow and put her face in it and screamed as her body began to spasm in earnest. After a few more spasms, she lost consciousness, falling off the bed and onto the floor.

12:47

Inspector Megure was pacing outside of a warehouse. He had been told through an anonymous tip that this was where Conan was being held. The only problem was the news had followed them. They were setting up and he had no actual answers for what was actually transpiring. He sighed and moved over to Takagi. "Anything?"

"Afraid not inspector. It appears that they've noticed us though." Megure let out a few choice words before regaining his calm. "Any chance for snipers?" Takagi let out a short laugh. "From that distance? That's about… What? 700 meters?" Megure jumped as his phone rang. "Edogawa Conan?" he asked in astonishment. He quickly answered. "Inspector Megure."

"Hello inspector." A voice answered. A very deep voice that was certainly not Conan's. "Welcome to the game."

12:49

Akai Shuichi stared at the television, wondering if they were actually going to tell him who was being held hostage. He knew the location, but he wanted to know _who_ dammit. Almost as if on demand, his phone rang. His emergency phone. He leapt up and ran to it. He picked it up and answered. He said nothing, simply waiting.

"Shu. It's Conan." Jodie whispered into the phone. "Conan is the one in the warehouse." The undercover FBI agent hung up immediately. The kid who saved his life was in danger? _Well then._ He thought walking over to a closet. _Time to return the favor._ He reached in and pulled out a suitcase. He opened it briefly, nodding at the sniper rifle inside, and quickly left the house.

12:53

Professor Agasa warily rode up the elevator. He hoped he had given Ai enough time to cool off. As he reached their floor he slowly walked down the hallway. He knocked on the door. Getting no response, he entered the room with his key and looked around, and saw nobody. He frowned, but he then heard something in the bathroom, assumed all was okay, and he walked over to one of the chairs and sat down, and pulled out his phone. "Professor." Ai murmured. "Yes Ai?" He replied without looking up. "Can you do me a favor?" "Sure what kind of favooooor?" His voice went up a full octave on the last syllable as he finally looked up. There stood Ai in a robe, looking very much not like a little girl anymore. "I need new clothes."

 _ **A/N: Hey guys what's up it's me again. So funny story. I actually wrote this chapter and the chapter before in one day. Sunday October 16th. I also added some finishing touches to a scene I'm going to employ later on in the story so I'm burnt out. Also there is currently a bug on my knee. GET OFF. *flick***_

 _ **The next chapter is a big one. I would almost consider stopping this story after the next chapter and pick it up as a sequel, but this story is called "Six Month War" for a reason. Ah well. But guess what? Time is actually going to move in the next chapter! It's crazy I know. We won't be stuck in the same week anymore. *Pauses* This would be a really shitty week for a person.**_

 _ **Also one last thing any constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Leave a comment, let me know what you think, and send me a few suggestions too! If I use them I'll give credit where it's due. Have a good day/night!**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 _ **~Nebilas~**_


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